Mr Pramit Ghose is arguably the most high-profile fund manager in the Republic. He was voted Moneymate Pension Fund Manager of the Year on three separate occasions, most recently in 1999.

He joined Hibernian Investment Managers as managing director when the company was set up in the middle of last year following the merger of Hibernian and Norwich Union. Mr Ghose was previously the investment director of Friends First, having joined the group in 1991 to set up its asset management division.

He helped the life assurance company move into the fund management business, winning it a significant share of the lucrative corporate pension fund management business. It was assumed that part of the rationale behind his appointment with Hibernian was to target this market, in which Hibernian is also under-represented. Hibernian is the fifth-largest Irish asset manager in terms of assets, with over £5 billion (€6.35 billion) under management.

The company ranked second out of 16 Irish fund managers in October, and sixth over a three-month period.

Mr Ghose lives with his wife Catherine in Ballsbridge, Dublin. A former colleague in Friends First described Mr Ghose as a highly professional fund manager, who had made a substantial contribution to Friends First as an organisation.