Former COO of the investment division at Gartmore, Brian Mitchell, has joined United First Partners, an independent boutique brokerage and advisory firm.
Mitchell joins as head of business development focusing on Europe and will report to the firm's co-founders Michael Hadjedj and Stephane Mardel, who previously headed up the special situations and merger arbitrage division at inter-dealer broker ICAP. Mitchell's new role will be client facing, involve day-to-day management and expansion of the firm's business.
United First Partners was established in Q4 2009 and specialises in event driven, relative value and special situations research and has a client base predominantly made up of hedge funds and absolute return funds. The firm plans to expand its product range and diversify its client base into long-only institutions from 2012.
Mitchell joined Gartmore in January 2010, where he was initially responsible for overseeing all of the asset management firm's trading activities in London, Tokyo and Boston, including equities, derivatives, fixed income and foreign exchange, before his promotion to COO. In April 2011, Gartmore was acquired by Henderson, creating one of the largest UK retail buy-side firms by assets under management. Mitchell also spent 11 years at Baring Asset Management, holding the position of head of dealing and portfolio control prior to his departure in December 2009.