Matthews Appoints Sean Taylor as Chief Investment Officer
Matthews, a privately owned investment management firm with more than 30 years focused on Global Emerging Markets and Asia, announced that Sean Taylor has joined the firm and will be appointed chief investment officer (CIO), effective January 1, 2024, as part of the firm’s long-term succession planning.
San Francisco and Hong Kong, October 11, 2023 — Matthews, a privately owned investment management firm with more than 30 years focused on Global Emerging Markets and Asia, announced that Sean Taylor has joined the firm and will be appointed chief investment officer (CIO), effective January 1, 2024, as part of the firm’s long-term succession planning.
A highly experienced CIO and portfolio manager, Mr. Taylor has over 25 years of global experience within the investment management industry. He joins Matthews from DWS Group where he was most recently chief investment officer APAC and head of Emerging Markets. His experience leading investment teams in global and international equities, fixed income, and alternative strategies has earned him a reputation as a highly regarded Emerging Markets portfolio manager. Mr. Taylor has been responsible for investment teams located in the U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East, where he has developed deep partnerships with sovereign wealth groups, pension funds and a wide range of institutional clients.
As Matthews’ chief investment officer in 2024, Mr. Taylor will lead the firm’s San Francisco- and Hong Kong-based investment teams and play an important role in continuing to build on Matthews’ active partnerships with institutional and professional clients. He will continue the firm’s focus on investment excellence and a culture of collaboration, openness, curiosity and innovation within the team. Partnering closely with the firm’s senior leadership team, he will also support Matthews’ customized solutions platform that addresses the evolving needs of our clients.
“Sean brings extensive investment leadership to Matthews. In addition to seeking compelling investment performance, he will evolve our investment offering and support our ‘Active Partnership’ approach to clients that goes beyond product manufacturing to provide a holistic long-term investment solution,” said Cooper Abbott, chief executive officer of Matthews. “Having led investment teams globally for over 10 years, Sean has a proven track record as a strong transformational leader. Sean is also a highly experienced portfolio manager across Emerging and Developed Markets. Following other recent senior hires by Matthews, Sean’s appointment further emphasizes our commitment to building a strong entrepreneurial leadership team that deepens our presence in Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific.”
“I am delighted to join Matthews at a time when investors are looking for deeper investment expertise across core asset classes,” said Sean Taylor. “As a recognized leader within Emerging Markets and Asia, Matthews offers a strong, highly differentiated value proposition with an emphasis on developing deep partnerships with clients and delivering long-term outperformance. Given the firm’s expertise and capabilities, I believe it can meet the real need for implementable insights within a changing global context. Matthews has an incredible pedigree and depth of talent and I look forward to helping them achieve their goal of delivering leading investment performance while further enhancing the firm’s investment platform to meet the needs of clients.”
The appointment of Mr. Taylor follows a decision by Robert Horrocks, PhD, chief investment officer and portfolio manager to step back from his current leadership responsibilities. Following a transition period, Robert will step down from his chief investment officer role at the end of 2023 and will remain as a portfolio manager on the Matthews Asian Growth and Income, Matthews Asia Dividend and Matthews Asia ex Japan Total Return Equity Strategies, in addition to working closely with the firm’s global clients.
“Sean is a highly regarded investment leader with an outstanding track record of building disciplined, high-performing investment teams globally,” said Robert Horrocks, PhD, chief investment officer. “He will continue to evolve our investment platform across Emerging and Developed Markets to ensure we remain firmly aligned with the changing needs of our clients. As a passionate investor in Emerging Markets, Sean comes with a proven track record that immediately enhances our value proposition and I look forward to working closely with Sean over the coming months to ensure a seamless and successful transition.”
Matthews provides investors with a broad range of investment solutions across Emerging Markets, Asia and China. These include global, regional, country and thematic strategies available in SMAs, Active ETFs, and mutual funds. The firm also provides customized solutions to clients. These include strategies that have a sustainability focus, as well as solutions for investors wanting to exclude China from their portfolios.
Media Contact in the U.S.:
Dukas Linden PR
Sarah Lazarus/Stephanie Dressler
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sarah@dlpr.com/stephanie@dlpr.com
Media Contact in Europe:
Sam Emery
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+44 207 466 5056
About Matthews:
Matthews is an independent, privately owned investment manager founded in 1991 on a belief that Global Emerging Markets offer exceptional long-term growth potential. As a trusted and experienced guide, Matthews takes a long-term, active, fundamental investment approach to construct highly differentiated portfolios that focus on Emerging Markets, Asia and China. The firm manages assets on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally in vehicles that include SMAs, mutual funds and active ETFs. For more information about Matthews, please visit www.matthewsasia.com.