TOBAM, SPF, Pension Fund for Pharmaconomists, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, Unigestion, AXA IM, UBS, Sackers, Aquilaheywood, PMI

TOBAM – Rudyard Ekindi has left the French asset manager by mutual consent after seven months with the firm as head of marketing. Based in Paris, Ekindi joined TOBAM in June last year after leaving a position with UK government-backed DC master trust National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), in London. A spokesman for TOBAM said the firm would continue to recruit to support its growth but declined to comment on whether a direct replacement for Ekindi was being recruited.

SPF – The €13bn railways scheme SPF has appointed Gerard Groten as its independent chairman. He has been deputy chair since the premature departure of Kees Linse last February. Linse left after just eight months on the job, due to a of lack of time and other priorities.

Pension Fund for Pharmaconomists – Niels Hamborg Jensen has been appointed a member of the trustee board of the Danish labour-market fund Farmakonomer, the Pension Fund for Pharmaconomists, replacing Per Wijngaard. Hamborg, a pharmacist at Helsingør Stengades Apotek, is one of the two trustees appointed by the Danish Pharmacists’ Association (Danmarks Apotekerforening), the other being Henrik Lintner. Pharmaconomists are pharmaceutical experts in Denmark, and a separate professional group.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management – Claudio Siniscalco is joining Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management in the newly created role of global co-head of co-investments. He will work alongside fellow co-head Francesco Rigamonti and report to Carlo Pirzio-Biroli, global head of private equity. Siniscalco was most recently with HarbourVest Partners, where he was a principal and co-head of the London direct investment team. Jason Sambanjuhas been appointed head of Asia secondaries – another newly created role at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management. He will be based in Hong Kong and also report to Pirzio-Biroli.

Unigestion – Rachel Greenway has been appointed senior vice-president at Unigestion and a member of its institutional clients team. She comes to the asset management firm from Energy Alpha Strategies, where she was head of investor relations and sales.

AXA Investment Managers – Deborah Shire has been appointed head of structured finance at AXA Investment Managers. She will take up the role on 1 September and be based in Paris. Shire will report to John Porter, global head of fixed income and structured finance. She is replacing Laurent Gueunier, who has decided to leave the company after 12 years. Shire is currently global head of business development at AXA Real Estate, a member of the management board of AXA Real Estate and in charge of corporate finance, investor relations and marketing and communications. She first joined AXA in 1996. 

UBS Global Asset Management – Philip Brides has been hired by UBS Global Asset Management as senior portfolio manager for asset allocation and currency. He comes to the role from BlackRock, where he was most recently in charge of GTAA strategies in the firm’s multi-asset strategies group. He worked at BlackRock and predecessor firms for 12 years. Brides will report to Andreas Koester, head of asset allocation and currency at UBS.  

Sackers – UK pensions-specialist law firm Sackers is promoting five of its lawyers. Ralph McClelland is being made associate director at the firm, while Anna Copestake, Tom Jackman, Ferdinand Lovett and James Bingham are becoming senior associates. The promotions will take effect on 1 August. 

Aquilaheywood – Jörg Frotscher has been appointed business development executive Europe at pensions software company Aquilaheywood and is to lead the firm’s expansion into Germany, where it now has an office in Düsseldorf. 

Pensions Management Institute – Kevin LeGrand has been elected as vice-president of the UK’s Pensions Management Institute (PMI) in the 2014 council elections, while Jane Murray has been elected as a member of the council. LeGrand is currently principal and head of pensions policy at Buck Consultants and director of Buck’s professional trustee company. Murray is managing director of technology and administration solutions business at Towers Watson. Meanwhile, Susan Smith will stand down by rotation as vice-president but will stay on the council until July 2015. Gerry Degaute will continue as joint vice-president for a second year until close of the AGM in 2015. Paul Couchman has been elected for a second one-year term as president. 

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