Tristram Lett, one of Canada’s leading authorities on hedge funds, has been named senior vice president of Norshield Financial Group, the Montreal-based alternative investments company said Monday.

The appointment is effective Oct. 4. Lett will also become a member of Norshield’s portfolio management committee.

Lett joins Norshield from RBC Capital Markets, where he was director of alternative investments. He has more than 20 years of investment experience as a portfolio manager, business operator, derivatives specialist, marketing manager and risk management practitioner.

Lett began managing hedge funds in 1990, when he was the CIO of Trafalgar Capital. For five years during his tenure at Trafalgar, he was simultaneously the chairman of board of governors of the Toronto Futures Exchange. Subsequently, he has assembled fund of fund and portable alpha strategies for a number of firms including YMG Capital Inc. and RBC Capital Markets. Lett is co-chairman of AIMA Canada’s education and research committee and is a member of the editorial advisory board of the Canadian Investment Review.

John Xanthoudakis, Norshield founder and CEO, said Lett’s primary role will be to assist Norshield in capitalizing on its track record in the alternative investment industry.