Cusana Capital is a partner owned, independent equities investment business that manages a concentrated global emerging market equity strategy available through two funds managed pari passu; i) an Irish Qualifying Investor Alternative Investment Fund (QIAIF) and ii) an Irish UCITS fund.
The business was established in the UK 2022 by Robert Marshall-Lee and Jos Trusted with the objective of providing clients with access to some of the most exciting capital-growth opportunities outside of the Western world.
As patient long-term investors, we allocate capital to companies capable of compounding their earnings over multiple cycles. We only invest in businesses that exhibit superior corporate governance and protect minority shareholders.
We are fundamental stock pickers, undistracted by market noise and rotations. Our strategy is entirely benchmark agnostic and consequently differs from our peers and emerging market indices.
We partner with investors seeking absolute returns from liquid, publicly listed emerging market equities. As at launch, our clients are primarily USA and European foundations, pension funds and consultants. Cusana Capital is authorised by the FCA.
“We believe that there are unprecedented opportunities for equity investors outside of the developed world and it is our mission to bring these companies to our clients while shielding them from the non-business risks which can be found in these markets"
Jos Trusted, CEO 
The strategy was conceived by Robert Marshall-Lee who launched and led the emerging markets franchise at Newton Investment Management from 2011. His flagship fund was the Newton Global Emerging Markets Strategy and under Rob's leadership, assets grew to c$3.5bn and delivered top percentile (1%) performance over almost all time periods (Morningstar).
The two founding partners of Cusana Capital, Rob Marshall-Lee and Jos Trusted, have known each other for many years and share a strong belief in the best approach to investing in the emerging markets. Having worked together at Brook Asset Management, they launched Cusana to allow this market leading investment process to develop without distraction to maximise long-term returns for clients from these immensely exciting markets.
In 2022 Cusana Capital was established with the support of a number of institutional clients seeking long term access to this differentiated strategy. We partner with investors to provide jurisdictional expertise, investment transparency and material outperformance.
“We partner with clients for the long term and we align our interests by ensuring we invest personally in our funds on the same terms as our clients”
Jos Trusted, CEO
Robert Marshall-Lee
Founding Partner, Chief Investment Officer
Rob Marshall-Lee was at Newton Investment Management for 21 years; latterly with a Citywire AAA rating as the founding Head of the Emerging Markets Strategy and the Lead Portfolio Manager of the BNY Mellon Global Emerging Markets Fund (from mid-2011 to end 2020) and Newton Oriental Fund (since 2019). The former was Morningstar 5 star rated at time of departure. The BNY Mellon GEM Fund delivered top 1% performance vs the Emerging Markets funds over 1, 5 and 9.5 years since inception. This was the top performing Emerging Market fund available in the UK over the May 2011 to end-2020 time-period, with outperformance of c.6% p.a., representing cumulative outperformance of over 100%. Assets under management consequently grew from $35m to $3bn by the time RML left to join Odey as a partner. The Newton Oriental fund was also ranked in the top 1% in its class during RML’s management from June 2019 to end 2020.
Rob then moved to Odey Asset Management in early 2021 to found the Brook Global Emerging Markets franchise, launching a UCITS fund on 3 June 2021 and a QIAIF on 4 August 2021 under the same strategy as at Newton, though the portfolios were, to a limited degree, more concentrated. The UCITS fund had outperformed the index by 7% from inception to 16 March 2022. AUM in each of the two funds reached c.$150m by the time of RMLs resignation
Rob has been FCA and SEC regulated for a number of years. He was first FCA regulated in December 2001.
Trygve Toraasen
Partner, Portfolio Manager
Trygve is a Partner at Cusana. He started his career as an analyst at Fidelity Investments working in both London and Boston. He was ranked as among the top 10 buy side analysts in Europe by Reuter’s on several occasions. He was subsequently fund manager of several funds including the Fidelity European dynamic growth fund. In total he managed $8bn and was AA rated until he left Fidelity. He then set up and managed a Dynamic growth strategy at JO Hambro Capital Management ('JOHCM') in London.
Following JOHCM, Trygve was a partner and portfolio manager at Pensato Capital, where he worked closely with Jos Trusted - one of Cusana's founding partners. Trygve holds a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Southern California and an MBA and a BS from California State University, Long Beach.
Ben Smith
Lead Analyst
Ben is the Lead Analyst at Cusana. Having started his career as a generalist equity analyst for Newton’s International Equity strategy, Ben became co-lead portfolio manager for Newton’s concentrated UK Opportunities strategy in 2020. In 2021, Ben joined Anavon Capital as the Senior Analyst, leading idea generation for the Global L/S and long-only International strategies. In 2022, Ben joined former colleague Robert Marshall-Lee for Cusana’s launch. Ben has completed the CFA programme.
Jos Trusted
Founding Partner, Chief Executive Officer
Jos Trusted was the Head of Institutional Business at Odey Asset Management with responsibility for the strategy, manager selection, finance and product development for the new Institutional Business. That business was launched in the summer of 2021 and had reached $300m in assets within six months. Before joining Odey, Jos was the Chief Executive Officer of CQS’ equity business (New City) where he launched two Equites funds (Global and USA) with similar success.
Over the previous 10 years, Jos was a Partner at Pensato Capital, a UK based investment management business specialising in both long only and hedged European equity strategies which was acquired by RWC Partners in September 2017. Originally Jos worked in corporate finance for 14 years, spending the majority of his time at UBS where he was a Director of UK Investment Banking and at Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander where he was one of the Partners that built the successful UK equities business now N+1 Singer.
Jos is a qualified UK solicitor having started his career at K&L Gates in the City and has an MSc from The University of Bristol.
Jos has been FCA regulated for nearly twenty years.
Wollert Hvide
Non-Executive Chairman of Cusana Capital, CEO of Sector Asset Management
Wollert Hvide, is the CEO of Sector Asset Management AS. Until 2011 he was investment manager of Sector Omega AS.
He co-founded Sector Asset Management in 1999 from a position as Deputy Managing Director of R.S. Platou Shipbrokers (joined in 1990) where he was responsible for strategic advisory of R.S. Platou's prime customers with respect to market strategies. In 1987 Mr. Hvide joined McKinsey & Co on their Fellowship Program, which included an MBA at INSEAD (distinction). During his period with McKinsey & Co. Mr. Hvide worked on strategic and operational issues for leading Scandinavian companies including several shipping studies. Mr. Hvide has extensive experience from air transportation, management consulting and the shipping industry holds an MSc in naval architecture and marine engineering from the Norwegian School of Technology (1984).
Knut Kjaer
Chairman of Sector Asset Management
Knut N. Kjær has many years of experience from the asset management business. He became in 1997 the founding CEO of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund (NBIM) that today is among the largest funds globally with at USD 1.3 trillion in assets. Over his 11-year career at NBIM Mr. Kjaer implemented a successful investment program and built an international asset management team working out of Oslo, London, New York and Shanghai. In the following two years Mr. Kjaer was President of RiskMetrics Group in New York with direct responsibility for the firm’s global risk management and corporate governance advisory businesses. In 2011 he established the hedge fund Trient Asset Management together with colleagues from NBIM. Trient was acquired by Sector in 2016 and Mr. Kjaer has since 2017 worked as Executive Chairman at Sector.
Mr. Kjaer is a member of the Supervisory board of APG Asset Management that manages EUR 630 bn on behalf of ABP and some other Dutch pension funds. He is member of the Investment and Risk Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Advisory Investment Committee of the Central bank of Thailand. In the past he was member of the Investment Strategies Committee of GIC, Singapore, and the International Advisory Board of China Investment Corporation. He has also been member of the commission that managed the Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund and the Investment committee of ABP.
He also serves as the partner of FSN Capital Partners, a Nordic private equity firm. In 2008, Mr. Kjaer was appointed a Knight Class 1 of the Royal Order of St. Olav by His Majesty King Harald of Norway for his management of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, his contribution to the Norwegian economy and the future financing of its pensions. Mr. Kjaer holds a master’s degree in Economics and a degree in political science from the University of Oslo (1982). He attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School (2003). Prior positions: Research fellow at the Department of Economics, University of Oslo. Researcher at Statistics Norway. Founding partner of ECON Center for Economic Analysis. Executive Vice President of Storebrand. Chairman of Storebrand Bank. Deputy Chairman Oslo Stock Exchange. Chairman Center for International Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo.
Adrian Collins
Non Executive Advisor
Adrian Collins, previously senior management at Gartmore Asset Management and recently the Chairman of Liontrust where he led the development of Liontrust in just ten years from a loss making asset manager with AUM of less than $500m AUM to one of the market leading UK asset managers with over $25bn in AUM. Adrian and Jos Trusted have worked together in a number of UK public and private companies.
Sector Asset Management (“Sector”) are minority shareholders in Cusana Capital LLP and operate as our full business partners.
Sector is a market leading, independent, specialist capital management group founded in 1999 in Norway with approximately $4bn under management.
Sector offers infrastructure, advice, trading, distribution and middle and back office services to the investment businesses with which it partners. These are very particularly selected for their expertise, reputation and progressive cultures.
Sector has managed investment funds since January 2000 – and Cusana’s EM funds are hosted in Ireland on Sector’s long established fund structures. Sector is a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investments.
Sector is licensed by:
- Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet, FSAN)
- Ireland (Central Bank of Ireland, CBI)
Sector supports 4 independent investment teams managing:
- 7 different investment funds
- 3 mandates
Institutional operating platform | Based in Oslo, Norway | 30 professionals per September 2022
Citywire - Exclusive 27.10.2022 - "Rob Marshall-Lee reveals Cusana Capital fund plan" - click here
Portfolio Adviser - Launch Coverage 13.09.2022 - "Rob Marshall-Lee sets up own firm four months after Odey AM exit" - click here
Investment Week - Launch Coverage 12.09.2022 - "Former Odey manager Marshall-Lee takes CIO and founding partner role at new firm" - click here
For enquiries please contact info@cusanacapital.com