Axa Investment Managers
Bettina Ducat has been promoted to the role of global head of product, retail and institutional development (Prid), reporting into Christophe Coquema, global head of the client group.
In order to make the client group more agile the retail and wholesale business lines will now be combined with the institutional lines into one broader, simpler team under Ducat’s leadership.
Old Mutual Global Investors
OMGI has appointed Cristiano Busnardo to the newly created position of country head Italy, reporting to Allan MacLeod, head of international distribution. He joins from the Milan branch of Allfunds Bank where he was deputy general manager, head of sales.
Based in OMGI’s Milan branch, Busnardo has been tasked with nurturing the firm’s established Italian client base, as well as developing relationships with new investors. He will service clients across a spectrum of financial institutions, including wealth managers, private banks, family offices, pension funds, insurance and asset management companies.
Standard Life
Ian Mobley, head of adviser engagement at Standard Life, died in August aged 52 following a battle with cancer. During his eight years with Standard Life, Mobley held a number of positions working with advisers to help build their advice propositions with clients.
Highly respected for his technical knowledge and market understanding, Mobley’s career spanned more than 25 years. He started as an adviser at Endsleigh Insurance, before joining Friends Provident and then ultimately Standard Life in 2008.
David Tiller, head of adviser & wealth manager propositions at Standard Life, said: “Ian was a passionate advocate of financial advice, helping advisers deliver better results for countless clients through his training and insight.”
Barclays
Barclays has appointed Tim Throsby as president of Barclays Corporate & International and chief executive of Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank. He will join the executive committee of Barclays, reporting to chief executive Jes Staley, and is expected to take up his new role in January 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.
He joins Barclays from JP Morgan, where he is currently global head of equities. He previously worked for Credit Suisse and Macquarie before joining Goldman Sachs in 1995 as a managing director and co-head of equity derivatives Asia and Japan.
In 2002, he moved to Lehman Brothers to head the Asia and Japan equities division, before relocating to New York in 2004 to run the global equity derivatives business, convertibles and risk arbitrage. In 2005, he became president of Citadel Asia and Japan where he ran their Asian business, located in Hong Kong.
Axa Group
Following the decision by Henri de Castries to step down from Axa, the French insurer has officially appointed Denis Duverne as non-executive chairman of the board and Thomas Buberl as chief executive, effective 1 September.
De Castries made his retirement announcement in March 2016. The decision was made to split his role in two with Duverne and Buberl designated to their respective positions shortly after the announcement was made.
Man Group
Sandy Rattray has been named chief investment officer as part of a restructure of Man Group’s senior management team. The reshuffle follows the departure of chief executive Manny Roman in July, who left to join Pimco.
Rattray will assume responsibility for Man GLG, Man AHL, Man Numeric, and Man Solutions from recently appointed chief executive Luke Ellis. Rattray will remain chief executive of Man AHL.
The firm also intends to appoint Mark Jones, co-chief executive of Man GLG, to the position of chief financial officer and as an executive director of Man Group.
Robyn Grew has been appointed to the newly created role of chief administrative officer of Man Group. She will have responsibility for the firm’s infrastructure, operations, technology, compliance, legal, human resources and facilities functions. Grew was previously Man Group’s general counsel and global head of legal and compliance.
Amundi
Bruno Taillardat has been named head of smart beta at Amundi. He started his career at BNP Paribas Asset Management where he was head of quantitative research in the international equity investments team from 1998 to 2007.
He joined Unigestion in March 2007 as a senior portfolio manager within the equity team. He then became investment director responsible for the quantitative and fundamental research.
Zedra
Stuart McLuckie has joined independent trust, fiduciary and fund services firm Zedra Group as managing director of its Geneva office. His focus will be on the day-to-day running of the office, as well as on the company’s strategy, objectives, and business development.
From October 2011 to September 2016 he was a director at Rhone Trust and Fiduciary Services (previously Banque Pictet’s trust company) in Geneva and before that, he spent over 10 years at Barclays trust operations with seven of those years being in Geneva, where he was the deputy head of the office.
First Names Group
Trust, fund, real estate and corporate services provider, First Names Group has appointed David Wild as chief risk officer. The appointment is effective immediately, with Wild reporting directly to group chief executive Mark Pesco.
Based in the Jersey head office, Wild will be responsible for all aspects of the risk management framework, including aligning the group’s overarching risk strategy and supporting the business in leveraging commercial opportunities for continued market growth.
He joins First Names Group from RBC where he held the position of head of fiduciary risk management for Wealth Management-International Fiduciary Services.
Henderson Global Investors
Henderson Global Investors has strengthened its European equities team by promoting James Ross to co-manager of the Henderson Horizon Pan European Equity Fund. The fund has been managed by Tim Stevenson since its inception in 2001.
Ross has been with Henderson since joining the graduate scheme in 2007 and has been co-manager on the Henderson UK Alpha Fund since January 2013.
Cirencester Friendly
John Quinn has been appointed chairman of Cirencester Friendly, succeeding Martin King who has retired from the board after two years in the role.
Quinn joined the board as an independent director in 2012 and served as vice-chairman in 2014. Previously, he spent 36 years with Lloyds Banking Group during which time he held positions in branch and area management before becoming a senior manager in Corporate and Commercial Banking – a role from which he retired in December 2011.
