Aviva Investors poaches from LGIM in senior management hire

Aviva Investors has poached rival Legal & General Investment Management’s (LGIM) head of distribution, hiring Mike Craston as its global head of business development.

The appointment comes as the asset manager grows its senior management team, also naming David Clayton as CFO.

The hire of Craston comes only a year after he was named vice-chairman of LGIM’s US business, which he has also overseen as chief executive.

During his decade at LGIM, Craston has also served as managing director of global institutional business, responsible for pension fund clients, joining in 2004 after working at Aegon Asset Management and Scottish Equitable Asset Management.

Clayton most recently was director of group finance at Standard Life, spending six years in the role.

He joined the company in 2008 from PwC, where he had worked, in various roles, since 1983.

Both will be based in London, joining the executive team and reporting directly to chief executive Euan Munro, who joined Aviva Investors in 2013 from Standard Life Investments.

Munro said he was delighted at Craston and Clayton’s joining.

“While the business has made considerable progress in the past couple of years, we are just getting started in terms of realising Aviva Investors’ long-term potential,” he said. 

“I have every confidence David and Mike will play a critical role in helping us achieve our ambitions.”