People moves: Janus Henderson reshapes institutional team post-merger

Janus Henderson Investors, Legal & General Investment Management, Actiam, Delta Lloyd Asset Management, BNY Mellon Investment Management, Columbia Threadneedle, Gresham House, State Street, Investment Association

Janus Henderson Investors – The newly merged asset management group has announced the new structure of its institutional team for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), bringing together existing distribution staff from both Janus and Henderson. Jennifer Ockwell has become head of UK institutional – she held a similar role at Henderson Global Investors prior to the merger with Janus, which completed last month. She is also a trustee of Henderson’s staff pension scheme.

Sylvain Agar is now head of EMEA ex-UK institutional. He was previously head of financial institutions for Janus, covering the UK and Europe. Both Ockwell and Agar report to Nick Adams, head of EMEA institutional. Agar’s team will be hiring “in the coming months”, Janus Henderson Investors said in a statement.

In addition, Mark Fulwood has been named head of UK business development – he was previously director of institutional business for Henderson – while Anil Shenoy is now head of UK institutional clients. He was previously also a director of institutional business at Henderson. Both report to Jennifer Ockwell. 

Legal & General Investment Management – Mark Johnson will join the fund management group in September as head of institutional client management. He moves from BlackRock following a 19-year career with the world’s largest asset manager. Most recently he was head of closed-end funds, and has also led the UK sales team for BlackRock’s exchange-traded fund arm iShares. Johnson replaces Chris DeMarco, who moved to Legal & General Retirement earlier this year to lead its pension risk transfer business.

Actiam – The €55bn Dutch asset manager Actiam has appointed Arnold Gast as its new chief investment officer as of 1 June. Gast has been active in the investment sector for almost 20 years. Gast joins from Delta Lloyd Asset Management, where he had been tasked with setting up the investment office. He has also been head of credit and co-head of fixed income as well as a portfolio manager at Delta Lloyd.

In addition, for the past four years, Gast was a board member of the European Private Placement Association as well as chairman of the Investor Advisory Board at the Delta Lloyd Mezzanine Fund. Prior to this, Gast worked at ABN Amro Asset Management. Actiam’s executive team now comprises Hans van Houwelingen (CEO), John Shen (chief risk officer), Arnold Gast (CIO) and Dudley Keiller (chief transformation officer).

BNY Mellon Investment Management – The asset management giant has hired Chris Harmer as head of consultant relations, chiefly responsible for BNY Mellon’s interactions with consultants in the UK and Europe. He joins from Columbia Threadneedle Investments where he was consultant relations director for EMEA.

Gresham House – The UK-based alternative investment manager has hired Michael Hart as head of distribution, a newly created role. He was previously global head of business development at Amundi Alternative Investments, and held a similar role for Aberdeen Asset Management’s alternatives business before that.

Gresham House has stepped up its activity this year following a major investment in the firm by the Berkshire Pension Fund. It bought Hazel Capital, a “new energy” infrastructure manager, last month, and plans to launch a British Strategic Investment Fund later this year.

State Street – The financial services group has named David Pagliaro head of State Street Global Exchange for EMEA. Global Exchange is the company’s data analytics and services business. He most recently worked for S&P Capital IQ for nine years, holding several roles including global head of S&P credit solutions. Pagliaro replaces James Lowry, who will return to the US in July to lead Global Exchange for North America, State Street said in a statement.

The Investment Association – A former adviser to UK chancellor Philip Hammond has joined the Investment Association as a consultant. Graham Hook – who worked with Hammond in the UK’s departments for transport and defence, as well as the Foreign Office and latterly HM Treasury – is now the asset management trade body’s interim head of government affairs until September, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group – Japan’s largest asset management group has transferred two long-term senior staff to its London office in a bid to increase its distribution outside of Japan. Akimichi Oi has become director of the company’s Investment Management Department, while Kota Murakami is now director of global business development. Oi joined the firm in 2001, and was most recently head of global client relations, based in Tokyo. Murakami joined in 1990 and was most recently head of the investment management group in Hong Kong.