Schroders
Schroders has hired BlackRock’s Charles Prideaux for the newly-created role of head of solutions. He joins the firm next week after 29 years at BlackRock where he was most recently head of active investments for Emea across equities, fixed income and multi-asset.
The appointment comes after John McLaughlin, Schroders head of portfolio solutions, announced he will retire from the asset management industry at the end of the year.
In the new role, Prideaux will take on responsibility for the solutions business which provides advice, customisation and risk management to institutional and intermediary investors globally.
He will report to Richard Mountford, global head of the product division.
Prideaux joined Mercury Asset Management, which later became part of BlackRock, in 1988. At BlackRock he also held the role of head of institutional client business for Emea.
JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM)
JPMAM is expanding its international exchange-traded fund (ETF) business with two hires. John Adu has joined as UK head of ETF distribution and Tom Stephens as head of JP Morgan ETF international capital markets.
Both Adu and Stephens are based in London and report to Byron Lake, who was appointed head of international ETFs in March this year.
Adu will focus on building relationships with UK professional investors and delivering the firm’s ETF capabilities to clients.
He joins from Deutsche Bank where he was responsible for cross-asset distribution of alternative, active and passive strategies to UK clients. Prior to this, he held roles at various companies including Source, IlliquidX, Welbeck Consulting and Barclays Global Investors.
Stephens, meanwhile, will become head of JPMAM’s ETF capital markets desk, responsible for leading the capital markets group, with oversight on driving its capital markets strategy.
He joins after nine years at Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking (SGCIB) where he was head of ETF execution sales in Europe working with ETF clients, global ETF issuers and internal stakeholders. Stephens has also worked as a senior member of the iShares capital markets team.
Blick Rothenberg
Blick Rothenberg has appointed Fiona Fernie as a partner to further strengthen its tax investigations and dispute resolution team.
Fernie is a chartered accountant and trusts and estates practitioner with over 30 years’ experience working on resolving disputes and queries raised by HMRC.
She specialises in working with complex private clients and managing their interaction with HMRC. She joins Blick Rothenberg from Pinsent Masons where she headed up their tax investigations team.
KNEIP
Kneip, a data management and reporting solution provider to the asset management industry, has appointed Jean-Baptiste Douville de Franssu and Michael Jackson as new board members.
De Franssu is a former president of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (Efama) and was previously chief executive of Invesco Europe.
Jackson is the former chief operations officer of Skype and is a non-executive director of Axa UK, with over 30 years’ experience in technology and telecoms. These two skill-sets combined will work with Kneip “to reach its goal of making this world a better place for investors”.
Alliance Trust Savings
Alliance Trust Savings has appointed Ron Baxter, a former senior advisor at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulatory Authority/Bank of England, as chair of its board.
Baxter spent nearly 12 years as a senior advisor in regulation, initially at the FSA/FCA and latterly at the PRA/Bank of England.
He is presently a non-executive director of consumer lending business, Together Personal Finance, and was previously a non-executive of Skandia Insurance Group for six years.
In his new role, which is subject to regulatory approval, he will work with existing non-executive directors, Jonathan Anderson and Gregor Stewart.
Gravis Capital Management
Specialist investment advisory firm Gravis Capital Management has hired ex-Fidelity director Charles Payne as an investment consultant.
Payne left Fidelity in 2015, after 14 years, to become an independent investment consultant. He will provide Gravis with support on portfolio management and construction.
While at Fidelity, Payne held a number of senior roles including product director with responsibility for European equities, director of research and executive director managing the equity investment operations, managing 120 staff, including the implementation and development of Fidelity’s multi-manager division.
Prior to Fidelity, Payne was the director of performance measurement and risk at Henderson Investors and chief operating officer of the investment division at Gartmore Investment Management. He has also held roles at UBS Asset Management, Kleinwort Benson and Chase Manhattan.
MetLife
MetLife has appointed Mark Baldwin as business development director for its UK employee benefits business. He has been with MetLife for the last six years and brings significant experience in the employee benefits market to his new role
Baldwin will drive the distribution strategy, focusing on enhancing strategic partnerships with leading employee benefits consultancies.
MetLife has built its UK Employee Benefits business on its 2010 acquisition of Alico’s UK business.
Crowe Horwath
David Mellor, former chief executive of Crowe Clark Whitehill (CCW), has been elected as Crowe Horwath’s chief executive.
CCW is a UK member firm of US accountancy and advisory network Crowe Horwath International.
He will succeed Kevin McGrath, who will retire on 31 March 2018 and has served as chief executive since 2012.
Mellor has served on the Crowe Horwath International board of directors for four years. He will continue to provide input, support and counsel to Crowe Clark Whitehill up until the end of March 2018.
