w/c 15 August 2011
By Adam Cadle
Appointments update
Michael Dempsey has joined Mercer as head of its Investment Management business for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). For the last few years Dempsey has headed up Mercer's Investment Management in Ireland. He was responsible for launching Mercer's Dynamic De-Risking Solution (MDDS) across the market.
Mercer has appointed Jimmy Johansen as head of its International Consulting Group in the Nordics and a member of Mercer’s International Leadership Group for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Johansen has been with Mercer since 2003 as a senior consultant in the International Consulting Group.
Isabelle Brancart has joined State Street as head of sales and relationship management for Switzerland. She will be leading the Swiss sales and account management team. Brancart joins from Deutsche Bank, where she managed securities services sales in Western Europe.
The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (Alfi) has elected Marc Saluzzi as president. He has been on the board of Alfi since 2001, becoming chairman of the Alfi Alternatives Committee in 2009. He also works at PricewaterhouseCoopers and is responsible for PwC Luxembourg Financial Services’ practice.
John Machon joins Towers Watson in the new role of head of business development for the firm’s Retirement Solutions business in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He joins after seven years at Aon Hewitt as chief commercial officer for EMEA. During this period he was part of the Executive Operating Committee.
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has appointed Todd Ruppert as one of five new corporate member representatives. Ruppert is also president of international investment services at T. Rowe Price International, leading the firm’s institutional business globally.
Aviva Investors has entered the Swiss market and appointed Fabio Ferra as business development director and country representative, and Karsten-Dirk Steffens as business development director. They will help to develop the company’s Swiss distribution network. Both join from AXA Investment Managers.
AllianceBernstein has hired Mirko Boettcher as head of European third party distribution, Gunnar Knierim as advisor for Germany, and Elizabeth Para as product manager, business development. Boettcher joins from Schroders and will be based in London, as will Para. Gunnar will be based in Munich.
Sylvain Viret has strengthened TOBAM’s distribution platform targeting French and francophone investors. Viret joins as business development manager, dedicated to the development of anti-benchmark strategies amongst investors in France, Luxembourg, Monaco and Switzerland.
SKAGEN has strengthened its Dutch team with the appointment of Nienke Abma and Mark Houben to its new office in Amsterdam. Abma will work with client servicing and has over 15 years experience in finance. She joins from Detac B.V where she worked as senior executive consultant. Houben will work in communications and joins from Springer Science+Business Media.
Paul O’Connor has joined Mercer as head of asset allocation for Mercer’s Investment Management business in Europe, Middle East and Africa. He previously worked as a proprietary trader and strategist for Credit Suisse in London. O’Connor will be responsible for the overall asset allocation strategy of Mercer’s clients’ portfolios.
Other stories you may find of interest:
EC chooses Hewitt to carry out pan-European pension fund study
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The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has chosen UBS Global Asset Management - Fund Services to provide hedge fund of funds administration services
EC's OTC Derivatives consultation met largely with praise from industry
The Investment Management Association (IMA) has welcomed the European Commission's consultation of OTC Derivatives, which aims to improve market infrastructure and to ensure an efficient, safe and robust derivatives market
