Schroders' former chief investment officer has teamed up with one of Britain's top currency traders to offer foreign exchange funds to investors.

Richard Horlick is offering his latest business through Spencer House Capital Management, majority-owned by Lord Rothschild, which has just been authorised by regulators. His currency joint venture has been struck with John Birkins, who was chief foreign exchange trader at Credit Suisse in London between 1989 and 1993. Spencer House has also employed fund managers to look after global, European and Asian equity funds using talent hired from F&C Investments and Deutsche Asset Management. Horlick said he was interested in developing an emerging market equity product. He left Schroders last year to pursue other opportunities. Following discussions with Rothschild, he agreed to start Spencer House. He said: "It takes me back to when I was helping to build Newton Investment Management. It is great fun starting from scratch." Horlick left Newton to join Fidelity in 1994. He joined Schroders in 2002. Since Birkins retired from Credit Suisse, he has managed money on his own account. His latest business, Mercury Forex, is chaired by Mark Wagner, who used to run hedge fund group Sabre. Birkins has produced an annualised 24% return since 1994 on the back of low volatility. Currency managers have been producing unexciting returns in recent years but Horlick said Birkins had bucked the trend by taking a view on short-term trading opportunities.