Third Avenue Management, an investment adviser to private and institutional clients, has appointed Ian Lapey as co-manager of Third Avenue Value Fund, effective 31 July 2009.

Lapey (pictured) will share responsibility for managing the USD5bn mutual fund with Third Avenue's founder, Martin J. Whitman, who has managed the firm's flagship fund since its inception in 1990.

Lapey joined Third Avenue Management in 2001 and was designated as Whitman's successor as manager of Third Avenue Value Fund in 2006. Additionally, Lapey manages many of Third Avenue Management's sub-advised portfolios and is co-manager of the Third Avenue Variable Series Trust and the Dublin-domiciled Third Avenue Value Fund Ucits, which follow the same investment strategy as the Third Avenue Value Fund.

Prior to joining Third Avenue, Lapey was an equity research analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston and Salomon Brothers. He began his career as a staff accountant for Ernst & Young.

Whitman says: "Although I have no plans to retire, I have been thinking about succession planning for quite some time. In that light, for the past three years, Ian Lapey has worked closely with me on the day-to-day investment and portfolio management decisions for the Third Avenue Value Fund. Ian has proven himself to be deeply committed to growing and preserving our clients' capital while limiting investment risk. He has earned my trust in his abilities and his integrity and I believe that he will serve our shareholders well as co-manager of the fund and as my eventual successor when I do feel it is time to pass the torch. Accordingly, in recognition of the significant contributions he makes to managing the fund on a daily basis, it gives me great pleasure to name Ian Lapey as co-manager of Third Avenue Value Fund."

Lapey says: "I am sincerely honoured to share the responsibility of managing Third Avenue Value Fund with Marty Whitman. I have had the good fortune of learning at the hand of a true investing master and look forward to utilizing his bottom-up approach to value investing for many years to come."