Jan Straatman, who headed up investment at €356bn Dutch public service pension plan ABP between 2001 and 2006, is the latest person to join the independent 300 Club that aims to speak out against mainstream investment practice.

Straatman is now global CIO at Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) and brings the number of members of the 300 Club to 16.

Straatman said: “The investment industry is going through significant changes, and it’s imperative to question and challenge current thinking.”

What may have worked a decade ago will no longer be relevant in today’s markets, he said. 

“I admire the work of the 300 Club and am looking forward to moving the debate forwards and maximising the opportunities for ordinary savers,” he said.

The club is a group of top investment professionals from the buy and sell sides who produce papers and meet twice a year, with the aim of challenging prevailing investment thinking.

It was formed in 2011, partly in response to the market collapse of 2008-09 and the idea that fund managers and others in the industry should have spoken publicly about problems apparent before the crash.

The club’s name is meant to symbolise a small group achieving something against the odds, referring to the legendary 300 Spartans who held off the far larger Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

In a statement, the club said it believed recent economic and investment trends were set to change the investing landscape over the next two decades, and that this was now a turning point presenting huge dangers to ordinary savers.

Last month, Ron Barin, CIO of the US pension fund for Alcoa, joined the 300 Club.

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