OMGI
Old Mutual Global Investors has appointed Freddi Woolfe as head of responsible investment and stewardship.
Woolfe, who joined OMGI on 13 November, will work with the firm’s fund management teams, reporting into head of UK equities Richard Buxton. His role will involve shaping and directing OMGI’s stewardship work, providing guidance on corporate governance and stewardship related issues to OMGI’s senior management team.
He joins from Newton Investment Management where he was responsible investment analyst primarily covering the healthcare and technology, media and telecommunications sectors, a role he held from March 2015.
In this role he also helped develop Newton’s house view on global corporate governance issues. Prior to this position, he worked at Hermes Equity Ownership Services as associate director, head of UK engagement from 2008.
Manulife
Manulife has appointed Khoo Kah Siang as chief executive of Manulife Singapore. He will report directly to Manulife’s Asia chief executive Anil Wadhwani.
His appointment is effective from 9 February 2018, subject to any necessary regulatory approvals.
Khoo will be responsible for the company’s operations in Singapore, including its life insurance, wealth management and retirement solutions businesses.
IFED
The London Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department has appointed a head of department to lead the fight against insurance fraud. Detective chief inspector Andrew Fyfe, with 26 years of experience as a police officer, will take over the role from detective chief inspector Oliver Little.
Fyfe was previously with the Police’s National Intelligence Fraud Bureau and has been a specialist in economic crime matters for the majority of his career.
Little will move into the role head of the dedicated card and payment crime unit – a special police unit made up of police officers from both the City of London and the Metropolitan Police forces.
First Names Group
It is understood that up to eight people have been made redundant as part of a restructure at First Names Group, a financial services group.
According to newspaper the Jersery Evening Post, First Names Group has refused to confirm the number of job losses “in respect to hose involved”.
The paper reports that it is understood that most of those who lost their jobs had been long-standing employees at Nautilus Trust Company, which was taken over by the firm in June 2016.
FWD Group
Poramasiri Manolamai has been appointed as chief executive designate for FWD Thailand, effective from 1 January 2018. She will lead FWD’s growing business in Thailand to drive the delivery of its technology-driven customer-led strategy.
Manolamai brings more than 25 years’ experience in the Thai insurance industry to FWD. She will work closely with the incumbent chief executive Mike Plaxton through a leadership transition period until her appointment.
Plaxton has announced he will be retiring in 2018 after more than 48 years in the industry, half of which has been in Asia.
Legal & General
Simon Russian has been promoted by LGIM Real Assets to head of retail.
LGIM says Russian’s new role forms an important part of Legal & General’s strategy to ensure that it continues to challenge retail market conventions.
Reporting to Michael Barrie, head of fund management, Russian has more than 20 years of retail experience. He will lead the retail team and be responsible for taking a strategic and holistic view on all Legal & General’s retail assets to identify areas for change and innovation, ensuring that it creates long-lasting schemes that improve the urban environment.
Hawksford
Hawksford has appointed Carly Vardon, an associate director with 11 years experience in the legal and financial services, to its private client team.
Vardon’s responsibilities will include working with fellow directors to implement Hawksford’s private client business plan and developing new business opportunities. She will also play a role in managing and growing the private client team and ensuring all clients receive a quality service.
Vardon joined Ogier in 2006, where she qualified as an English solicitor as part of their legal training contract within the corporate and commercial team.
Following a management buyout, she became a manager at Elian Private Wealth in 2013, where she advised on international portfolios for Middle Eastern clients and provided specialised offshore administration to high profile clients. Carly has also held roles at Royal Bank of Canada and IFG Trust Jersey.
Antipodes Partners
Antipodes Partners, a boutique Australian investment manager, has appointed Andrew Gibson as a senior investment analyst.
Gibson, who covers the global industrial and commodity sectors, is the fourteenth member of the Antipodes investment team. He joins sector head Chris Connolly in London.
Prior to joining Antipodes, Gibson was a European industrials specialist at Deutsche Bank for eight years. He also held roles at Morgan Stanley and Deloitte & Touche.
