Key Takeaways
- • Tony Stenning, former CEO of Atlantic House, has joined Downing LLP as head of liquid alternatives, marking his return to active management approximately one year after departing Atlantic House.
- • Stenning brings senior experience from BlackRock and his most recent leadership role at Atlantic House Group to oversee Downing's liquid alternatives strategy and new fund launch.
- • Huw Price also joined Downing in the concurrent role of head of alternatives structuring, strengthening the firm's alternatives capability.
- • Downing is launching a new actively managed liquid alternatives fund positioned to deliver 7% to 10%+ per annum with positive returns targeted across most market conditions.
Summary
Stenning's career trajectory includes senior roles at BlackRock prior to his tenure at Atlantic House, establishing credentials in both scale operations and alternative investment management. His departure from Atlantic House occurred in late 2022, with Tom May assuming the CEO role in November of that year. The timing of Stenning's move to Downing coincides with the firm's launch of a new actively managed liquid alternatives fund designed to achieve 7% to 10%+ annual returns while targeting positive performance across varied market conditions—a mandate reflecting institutional demand for non-correlated return streams.
Concurrent with Stenning's appointment, Downing recruited Huw Price as head of alternatives structuring, indicating a coordinated expansion of the firm's alternatives infrastructure. This dual hire suggests Downing is building depth in both portfolio management and product structuring capabilities to support institutional investor adoption of its liquid alternatives offering. For hedge fund managers and institutional investors evaluating liquid alternatives platforms, the addition of experienced leadership with BlackRock and Atlantic House credentials may signal strengthened operational and investment rigor within Downing's alternatives business.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.