UK- Hermes, the £46bn investment manager owned by the British Telecom pension fund, has appointed Charlie Metcalfe as head of business development and deputy chief executive.

He joins from mPower Europe, an e-commerce company offering financial and investment advice to banks, insurance companies and DC schemes.

Prior to this he was head of sales, marketing and distribution at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and he has also spent time with Merrill Lynch Capital Management and JP Morgan.

Hermes, known for its firm stance on corporate governance issues, says the appointment reflects a desire to build its third party business.

Although best known as the principal investment manager for both BT and Consignia (Royal Mail) funds it also manages assets for 100 external clients including CalPers, PGGM, British Airways and the supermarket group Sainsburys.

Hermes has built up a third party business worth £2.5bn since 1999 and Tony Watson, appointed chief executive earlier this year, is keen to accelerate the rate of growth.

It is planning to open its £6bn in-house hedge fund to outside investors. “we want to leverage what we are already doing for in-house purposes,” says Metcalfe.

Metcalfe’s hiring is the latest in a series of senior appointments. Watson was promoted from CIO after Alistair Ross Goobey, the man instrumental in many of Hermes’ groundbreaking initiatives including corporate governance issues, retired at the end of last year.

It also appointed Nick Mustoe from Foreign & Colonial to replace Watson as CIO. Metcalfe joins Hermes’ executive management team which comprises Watson, Mustoe and chief operating officer Adrian White.

Earlier this year Hermes, which specialises in a mixture of indexed and specialist management, tried unsuccessfully to acquire Edinburgh Fund managers in a bid to build its retail business.

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