Ex-BlackRock manager Tovey to be investment head of new hedge fund -source

By Nell Mackenzie

LONDON (Reuters) - David Tovey, who was a BlackRock fund manager until 2021, is part of a team that plans to launch a hedge fund based in London and Zurich in the first quarter of 2024, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The new fund, which will be called Covale Capital, plans to have $1 billion in assets under management across multiple funds by the end of 2024, the source told Reuters.

A representative for the new hedge fund declined to comment on its planned launch or on any future appointments.

Tovey, who worked at BlackRock for nearly 23 years, will be the fund's chief investment officer, the source said. Tovey, whose LinkedIn profile has him listed as being a founder of Covale Capital, was not immediately available for comment.

Covale Capital, which Britain's Companies House records show was established in January this year as a limited liability partnership, will initially focus on Swiss equities and plans to launch three funds in 2024. The trading strategy will broadly replicate the kind Tovey pursued at BlackRock.

The first fund, which will open on Jan. 15, will be a Swiss equity market neutral fund, trading stocks hedged against broader market swings, the source said. The others will include a strategy that takes mostly long and some short bets on stocks, as well as a long-only fund, they added.

Covale Capital aims to eventually widen its focus to include European equities.

Its management team will include former BlackRock colleagues of Tovey's, including Shane Jackson, who will be chief executive of the hedge fund, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans are not yet public.

Martin Kazimir, who also previously worked at BlackRock, but most recently at Swiss asset manager Lombard Odier Investment Managers, will head up business development, the source said.

John Close, formerly deputy chief operating officer at Odey Asset Management, Alistair Ceurvorst from Walter Scott & Partners and Martin Fasel from Lombard Odier Investment Managers are also part of the team joining Covale Capital, they added.

(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Alexander Smith)