East Coast Capital Management (ECCM), a leading Australian alternative fund manager, has announced the appointment of Mary Xu as Chief Operating Officer. This marks the firm’s second senior appointment in 2025, following the arrival of former J.P. Morgan banker Simone Haslinger as Chief Executive Officer in January.
Mary joins ECCM from Bank of America, where she served as Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer for Hong Kong. Ms Xu brings 20 years of investment banking experience across Bank of America, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank.
ECCM specialises in systematic, quantitative trading strategies for wholesale clients. Its flagship fund, the ECCM Systemic Trend Fund, employs proprietary directional futures models to trade more than 70 global markets, including commodities, currencies, long-term government bonds, short-term interest rates, and equity indices.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Mary to the team,” said Simone Haslinger, Chief Executive Officer at ECCM. “Her deep expertise in internal governance and strategic operations, combined with her significant banking experience, makes her a strong addition to our leadership team.
She will play a pivotal role in expanding our internal capabilities and supporting the next phase of ECCM’s growth.”
“It’s an exciting time at ECCM,” Ms Haslinger continued. “We’ve now delivered a five-year track record with the ECCM Systemic Trend Fund program, achieving investor returns of 105% over the period — an annualised return of c. 15% net of fees.”
“ECCM is at a dynamic point in its growth journey, and I’m energised by the opportunity to help shape its next chapter,” said Ms Xu. “I’m particularly looking forward to working closely with the team to support the business as it scales.”
As Chief Operating Officer, Mary will focus on oversight of ECCM’s internal governance and operational efficiency. Mary commenced her role on 1 April 2025.
About East Coast Capital Management
Founded in 2008 by Chief Investment Officer, Adam Havryliv, East Coast Capital Management (ECCM) is a Sydney-based systematic fund manager specialising in quantitative trading strategies. Its flagship strategy, the ECCM Systemic Trend Fund (ECCM STF), seeks to capitalise on directional price trends across a portfolio of over 70 diversified and liquid global futures markets — including equity indices, foreign exchange, fixed income and commodities. The fund aims to deliver returns with low correlation to traditional asset classes.
ECCM’s Systemic Trend Fund was awarded Best Global Macro and Managed Futures Fund for 2024 at the Hedge Funds Rock Australian Alternative Investment Awards.