Stanhope Capital, the private investment manager, has taken the opportunity to cherry-pick staff from rivals during the downturn, growing its headcount from 26 to 40 over the last year.

Senior hires include James Hordern, who joined in January from independent asset manager Dalton Strategic, where he was a board director. Previously he was head of European, Europe, Australasia and the Far East and global specialist strategies at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He is now head of research and manager selection.