Square Mile has made two appointments to its Research and Consulting Team with Ajay Vaid and Ibrahim Ishmail joining as Investment Research Analyst and Investment Research Assistant, respectively.

Both Ajay and Ibrahim will help maintain Square Mile's universe of rated funds, conducting rating reviews through regular fund manager interviews and researching new strategies for consideration by the broader team. In addition, Ajay will be responsible for the delivery of consultancy services to clients and taking the lead in certain key consulting relationships.

Ajay joins from Tilney Ltd where he was an Equity Fund Analyst with a focus on global emerging markets, Japan, and Asia Pacific ex Japan, with additional experience of U.S. and global equity funds. During his eight years at Tilney, Ajay led the research on these sectors, informing the fund selection for some £3 billion of client money. This involved chairing meetings with fund managers, reviewing and analysing the fund universe to find best in class strategies and making recommendations to Tilney's investment managers.

Ibrahim was formerly an Operational Due Diligence Analyst within Barclays Wealth Management's Funds Team which saw him analysing annual reports and financial statements for approved third party funds while completing research projects on Swaps and Fund Value Assessment. Having started his career as a paraplanner at Brancaster House he went on to work for SG Wealth Management for nearly four years as an Analyst, where he assisted the CIO in managing discretionary model portfolios, including ethical portfolios, with assets under management in excess of £200 million.

Jock Glover, Square Mile’s COO, Research and Consulting, said, “We consider our 20-strong Research and Consulting Team to be the beating heart of the business. Its rigorous, independent insight feeds into all other areas of our operations and our reputation for market-leading funds research is built upon this team. It is therefore crucial that we to continue to invest in this all important asset and we are delighted to welcome Ajay and Ibrahim to Square Mile. They both display the ability to engage with fund managers, objectively analyse the strategies they run and the acumen to present informed recommendations based on the insight they gain."