Ilmarinen, Liontrust Asset Management, Deutsche AWM, Towers Watson, Alliance Trust

Ilmarinen – Timo Ritakallio, long-standing CIO at Ilmarinen, has been named the Finnish pensions mutual’s next chief executive. He will succeed Harri Sailas, who is to retire next May after more than eight years as president and head of Ilmarinen, the country’s largest private pension provider, with €33.5bn in assets. In addition to his responsibilities at Ilmarinen, Ritakallio is also a board member at several local foundations, as well as business park operator Technopolis and the Finnish Securities Market Association. Jussi Pesonen, chairman at Ilmarinen, said Ritakallio would assume the new responsibilities from next February, ahead of Sailas’s departure in May.

Liontrust Asset Management – James Beddall has been appointed to work alongside Jonathan Hughes-Morgan as co-head of international sales. Liontrust is in the process of setting up a branch office in Luxembourg, where Beddall will be based, subject to regulatory approval. He joins from F&C Investments, where he was head of international wholesale sales. He moved to Thames River Capital in 2007, which was then acquired by F&C in September 2010. Before then, he served as vice-president and director at Credit Suisse Asset Management.

Deutsche AWM – John Adu has been appointed head of ETP and mandate sales for the UK, joining from Source. He started his career at Barclays Global Investors before stints with advisory boutiques Welbeck Consulting and IlliquidX. Alfred Le Léon, meanwhile, joins the team from HSBC Global Asset Management, where he was an ETF product specialist in charge of sales across EMEA. He has been appointed as a passive sales specialist to strengthen coverage in the French market.

Towers Watson – Marcus Granstedt has been appointed as a senior consultant for the life insurance practice in Sweden and the Nordic countries. He succeeds Simon Stronkhorst, who will continue to be involved in projects for Nordic-based insurers but is returning to work in the company’s Amsterdam office. Granstedt joins from Legal & General, where he was head of reporting for its protection/insurance business. Before then, he worked for Towers Watson in the UK.

Alliance Trust – Ilario di Bon has stepped down as head of equities to pursue other opportunities. Peter Michaelis will take on the role, leading a single equity investment team under the direction of the chief executive and CIO Katherine Garrett-Cox. In addition, Simon Clements, who was head of global equities at Aviva Investors, will be responsible for the management of Alliance Trust’s equity portfolio. Michaelis and Clements both joined Alliance Trust in 2012.

Lombard Odier Investment Managers – Andrea Argenti has been appointed country head for its business in Italy, effective December 2014. He joins from BlackRock Investment Management, where he spent the last 14 years and since 2006 has been head of retail Italy for that business. Before joining BlackRock in 2000, Argenti was a sales manager at Société Générale Asset Management in Milan and began his career at Alcor, Solvay Group.

Topics