UK – Avinash Persaud, former head of global research at State Street, is to join UBS’s asset management subsidiary GAM next month.

Persaud has been appointed as investment director at GAM, and will run a global currency fund which will be launched later this year. He will start with GAM in October, and will report to GAM’s chief executive, Burkhard Poschadel.

Previously, Persaud was a managing director and a member of the global markets managing committee at State Street Corporation. He was with the company for four years and was instrumental in building up the research team in the UK and Boston, which has now between 20 and 30 analysts.

The high-profile Persaud was also formerly head of currency research at J P Morgan. There he devised the widely-used Emu Calculator and the Risk Appetite Index. The Emu Calculator estimated the chances of success for countries which hoped to join the first wave of European monetary union. The Risk Appetite Index estimated much broader investor demand for risky investments.

Persaud has won major awards in international finance including the Jacques de Larosiere Award from the Institute of International Finance, and an Amex Bank Award.

GAM has been owned by UBS since 1999. It focuses on active asset management and manages more than 23 billion dollars worldwide.

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