Hedge fund radio star 'Dr Stu' joins Aquila

The presenter of a weekly hedge fund radio show called “The Naked Short Club” has joined German alternatives manager Aquila Capital to help grow its institutional business internationally.

Stuart MacDonald, who most recently worked as a director of investor relations at fund of funds manager Gems Advisors, has joined Aquila as a managing director, according to a statement from the firm.

Since September 2008, MacDonald has hosted a weekly radio show on Resonance 104.4FM, a not-for-profit arts radio station. The show, which is aired live at 9pm on Monday evenings, describes itself as “one hour of loose talk about hedge funds and the state of the world, plus sweet poetry and heady music”. It draws roughly 80,000 listeners who tune in to listen to Dr Stu engage with a lineup of high-profile speakers from the hedge fund industry.

The show has been nominated three times for a Sony award and Dr Stu received trade magazine Hedge Funds Review’s 2011 special award for outstanding industry contribution.

Founded in 2001, Aquila has over $5.3bn in assets under management, specialising in multi-asset, multi-strategy investment strategies. Roland Schulz, managing director at Aquila Capital, said in the statement: “Stuart is a highly respected leader with extensive industry knowledge and an enviable track record in business development in alternative investment management.”

MacDonald said in the statement: “Aquila Capital is an exciting opportunity. It was one of the first alternative investment managers to use Ucits vehicles without compromising the performance of its strategies [...] Aquila is also active and innovative in the growing arena of real assets, often with a socially-responsible slant that is increasingly significant to investors.”

MacDonald was formerly director of hedge funds at Henderson Global Investors, and also worked at West Merchant Bank and Buchanan Partners.