Amundi
European asset manager Amundi has created a new global advisory board which will include former heads of state and prominent political figures.
Chaired by Hubert Védrine, France’s former foreign affairs minister, Armundi said the board will meet several times a year to discuss the economic and geopolitical outlook and its impact on financial markets.
The members of the board include Italy’s former prime minister Enrico Letta, Tatsuo Yamasaki who served at Japan’s vice minister of finance in the year to 2015 and Patrick Ponsolle, the former vice chairman of Morgan Stanley.
Other members:
Helen Alexander, former president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
Simon Fraser, former permanent secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Maurice Levy, chairman and chief executive, Publicis Groupe
Jurgen Stark, former member of the executive board and the governing council of the European Central Bank
Isabel Tocino Biscarolasaga, former environment minister for Spain
Pictet
Pictet Group’s private banking unit in Singapore has hired ex-Goldman Sachs managing director Dominique Jooris as its new chief executive.
Bank of Pictet & Cie (Asia), which launched in Singapore in 1995, has appointed Jooris to the role effective from 11 July.
Jooris will also serve as chief executive of Pictet Wealth Management’s South Asia division, reporting into Claude Haberer, who heads up the company’s operations in the whole region.
The appointment is subject to the approval of the Singapore authorities.
Jooris has held several positions at Goldman Sachs since joining in 2005, most recently as managing director. Based in Hong Kong, he was in charge of the bank’s credit capital markets in Asia.
Having worked in the industry for more than 20 years – 10 of which have been in Asia – Joori’s started out at JP Morgan with the mergers & acquisitions group.
Axa
Following the sale of Axa Wealth and the subsequent business restructuring, Axa has announced the chief executive of its Mediterranean and Latam operations Jean-Laurent Granier will step down next month.
The insurance giant said the move was part of a “career change” for Granier, who has also served as the chief executive of Axa Global P&C since 2012.
Having spent more than 26 years with the company, Granier has held a number of roles including as chief executive of Axa particuliers/professionnels.
He was appointed to his current role in 2010.
Meanwhile, Axa’s guaranteed drawdown provider has also announced a reshuffle of its distribution network in the UK.
Axa Life Invest has announced it is expanding its UK team by hiring Robert Higginbotham as its new regional sales managers. He joins the unit, from Royal London Pensions, bringing “extensive experience” in the financial sector and specialising in pensions and investments, according to the firm.
Higginbotham will oversee the liaison with professional financial advisers in central regions, including Wales, the Midlands, East Anglia and the South East.
Donovan Davey, Rob Fairbrother, Neville Hutchinson, Chetan Mistry, Matt Nelson and Neill Timbrell have all also been named as senior retirement specialists.
Association of British Insurers (ABI)
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has announced a number of high profile board appointments including chief executive AIG in Europe and the UK, Anthony Baldwin.
Antonio Lorenzo, chief executive of Scottish Widows and group director for insurance at Lloyds Banking Group and Vibhu Sharmahead of UK insurance at Zurich will also sit alongside Prudential’s government relations czar Julian Adams.
UBS
UBS Wealth Management has named executive director Geoffrey Yu as the new head of UK investment office. Yu will replace Bill O’Neill who is set to retire at the end of July.
Having spent his entire career at UBS, Yu transferred from the investment banking arm of the business to wealth management earlier this year. He will retain his position as an ultra-high net worth investment strategist.
He will work alongside deputy head Caroline Simmons and cross-asset specialist Dean Turner.
Neptune Investment Management
Matthew Butcher has been named as the head of Neptune’s new discretionary management arm.
He will focus on providing discretionary fund management (DFM) to a limited number of high net worth individuals.
Charlie Parker, head of distribution at Neptune, said Butcher brings huge experience to the new venture, which is still in its planning phase.
Butcher, who joined the firm last year, also started SilverHill Consulting in 2015 following his departure from Dart Capital.
The DFM team will also include James Cliff, a former private client manager at Rathbones and Neptune’s deputy managing director, Richard Green, who was previously chief executive at Barclays Private Bank.
FCA
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed Megan Butler permanently to director of supervision – investment, wholesale and specialists (SIWS).
Butler had previously been in the role on secondment from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), where she was executive director of International Banks Directorate.
“I am delighted that Megan has decided to stay at the FCA”, said Tracey McDermott, acting chief executive. “She is an extremely experienced regulator with an excellent reputation in wholesale markets and has established herself as a key member of the FCA’s executive team over the past nine months”.
Butler, who is a barrister, joined the Bank of England in April 2013 moving from the Financial Services Authority (FSA). In 2008 she became head of the department responsible for the supervision of the UK operations of the major investment banks.
Prior to that, Butler was head of Enforcement Law and Policy at the FSA and chaired the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Standing Committee on Cross Border Cooperation and Enforcement between 2004 and 2008.
Before the FSA, Butler held a variety of legal and non-legal roles at the London Stock Exchange, including head of capital markets.
BNY Mellon
Boutique investment manager BNY Mellon has hired Invesco’s ex-head of regional institutional sales Lindsay Wright.
Wright will be based in Hong Kong and will lead the firm’s distribution efforts across financial institutions, governments, sovereign wealth funds and intermediaries in the region.
The firm said Wright would also take on responsibility as co-head of Asia Pacific (Apac), alongside chief product and operating officer Doni Shamsuddin.
Both Wright and Shamsuddin will report to Matt Oomen, who is head of international distribution of the firm.
Wright has 30 years of experience in senior leadership and distribution roles. She previously worked with Invesco as regional head of institutional, alternatives and investment solutions.
Following a previous stint at Deutsche Bank in a number of positions, she was also co-chief executive of Harvest Capital Management and chief executive of Harvest Alternative Investments.
Sarasin & Partners
London-based asset management group Sarasin has appointed Gary Steinberg to its board as a non-executive director.
The firms said it welcomes Steinberg, the former head of the IMF’s investment unit, and decades of investment expertise in areas such as pension funds, endowments and non-for-profit sectors.
Steinberg has held a number of high profile roles throughout his career most recently as the chief information officer of the world’s largest endowed medical charity, Wellcome Trust which followed an earlier stint as chief executive of BP’s pension scheme. Having spent eight years as chair of the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital’s investment committee, Steinberg also served in a similar position for the University of Cambridge Endowment and The Kings Fund.
