Polar Capital, Skagen, Liontrust, PGIM, responsAbility, Macquarie, Montae, Phoenix Group, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, SSGA, Committee on the Global Financial System, Man FRM

Polar Capital – The UK-based specialist manager has hired Peter Leane as head of the Nordic Region to lead the company’s distribution efforts. Leane joins after a two-year “sabbatical” from asset management, and was previously at BlackRock for 24 years, during which time he helped build the asset manager’s Nordic business.  

The appointment follows Polar Capital’s acquisition of a four-man emerging markets investment team from Nordea, announced earlier this month.

Skagen – Tim Warrington is the new CEO of Norwegian asset manager Skagen. He has been acting CEO since his predecessor Øyvind Schanke stepped down in May. 

Warrington has worked at Skagen for more than 10 years, most recently as deputy CEO and previously as head of international distribution and domestic wealth management.

Odd Arild Grefstad, chairman of Skagen’s board and CEO of Storebrand – which bought Skagen last year – said: “Tim has detailed industry knowledge, strong leadership skills and represents continuity and stability for both clients and employees. We are confident that he has the business acumen and determination needed to lead the company and implement SKAGEN’s strategy going forward.”

The company has roughly €8bn in institutional assets under management, according to IPE’s latest Top 400 Asset Managers survey.

Liontrust – The UK listed asset manager has hired Frank Doyle as its first head of institutional business. He will join in September after 12 years at Investec Asset Management, where he was sales director. Doyle has also previously led institutional sales at Citigroup Asset Management and M&G, and consultant relations at Dresdner RCM Global Investors.

Liontrust ran £1.1bn (€1.2bn) in institutional assets at the end of March, according to its latest financial results, roughly 11% of its total assets under management.

PGIM – Eric Adler, CEO of PGIM Real Estate, has been appointed as the group’s first chairman. He will be responsible for the $160bn (€138.3bn) PGIM Real Estate and PGIM Real Estate Finance businesses. Adler will oversee both the real estate equity and debt businesses of PGIM and be responsible for enhancing the client relations, marketing and operational capabilities.

Adler will also remain CEO of PGIM Real Estate, while David Durning, CEO of PGIM Real Estate Finance, will remain in his current position, reporting to Adler. In addition to Durning’s current oversight of PGIM Real Estate Finance, he will oversee all real estate debt platforms in the US, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

responsAbility Investments – The $3bn Swiss asset manager has named Reto Schnarwiler as its new chairman, succeeding Kaspar Müller. Müller will step down at the company’s next annual meeting on 28 July after 13 years as chairman, the company said in a statement.

Schnarwiler has been a member of responsAbility’s board of directors since 2009. He is also on the board of APA Insurance Group in Kenya and chairs the insurance council of the African Leadership University.

Macquarie – Kit Hamilton and Tim Humphrey have been appointed co-heads of Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (MIDIS). Hamilton joined Macquarie’s global infrastructure debt asset management business in 2012 and has been the head of the investment team since 2015. He joined Macquarie in 2010 as part of the infrastructure debt advisory team within Macquarie Capital, after starting his career in infrastructure finance at Dresdner Kleinwort.

Humphrey joined MIDIS in 2013 and became head of the investor solutions team in 2015. Prior to joining MIDIS, Humphrey worked with pension funds and insurance companies across a range of disciplines. 

In addition, James Wilson and Andrew Robertson, co-founders of the MIDIS business and former co-heads, will remain involved with the business. Wilson will continue as CIO of MIDIS and chairman of the investment committee, while Robertson will assume broader responsibilities in Macquarie’s Sydney office. 

Stephen Allen has joined the MIDIS investment committee following his retirement as after eight years as chief risk officer of Macquarie Group.

Montae – Dutch pensions adviser Montae has appointed Nathalie Houwaart as partner as of 1 July, tasked with advising pension funds on balance and risk management. Houwaart has been a senior consultant at Montae since 2009. Prior to this, she worked at ING Investment Management – which has since morphed into NN Investment Partners – for 10 years.

Montae said Houwaart had contributed significantly to establishing and extending advisory services to pension funds, investment committees and risk management committees since joining. Montae is an independent service provider for the collective pensions sector. 

Phoenix Group – The UK insurance group has made changes to its executive management team following its acquisition of Standard Life Assurance, Standard Life’s legacy pensions business. Susan McInnes will become CEO of Standard Life Assurance upon completion of the transaction, expected for the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval. McInnes has worked at Phoenix since 2009, and was earlier this year appointed chief risk officer.

Jonathan Pears, currently chief risk officer at Standard Life, will replace McInnes as Phoenix’s risk chief, while John McGuigan, currently managing director of customer operations at Standard Life, will join Phoenix in the newly created role of group head of customer. Jim McConville, Phoenix’s group finance director, will take on the additional role of group director for Scotland. 

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan – OTPP, one of Canada’s leading institutional investors, has promoted Ziad Hindo to the position of chief investment officer, following the resignation of Bjarne Graven Larsen in April. Hindo was previously head of OTPP’s capital markets team, having first joined the CAD189.5bn (€122.9bn) pension fund in 2000.

In addition, the Canadian fund has appointed Jo Taylor as executive managing director for global development. He joined OTPP in 2012 and was most recently head of its London and Hong Kong offices.

Graven Larsen, former CIO at Danish pension fund ATP, has moved back to Denmark after two years leading OTPP’s investment office.

State Street Global Advisors – The asset manager has appointed Marcus Miholich as managing director and head of capital markets for its SPDR exchange-traded funds (ETFs) business in the EMEA and APAC regions. Miholich has been working for the ETFs arm of State Street since October 2017, most recently responsible for its Nordic business development strategy. Before joining State Street he worked at Haitong Securities.

Committee on the Global Financial System – The central bank governors of the Global Economy Meeting (GEM) last weekend appointed Philip Lowe, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), as chair of the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) for a term of three years, starting immediately. The CGFS is a central bank forum for the monitoring and analysis of broad financial system issues. It supports central banks in the fulfilment of their responsibilities for monetary and financial stability by contributing appropriate policy recommendations.

Lowe succeeds William Dudley, who was chair since January 2012 and retired from his position as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on 17 June. Lowe has been governor of the RBA since September 2016, having joined the bank in 1980. He is also a member of the Financial Stability Board. 

Man FRM – The alternative investment arm of Man Group has hired Samantha Rosenstock as sector head of relative value and private markets. She joins from the State of New Jersey, where she was head of alternative investment for the state’s $83.7bn (€72.4bn) public pension system. She has also held senior roles at Société Générale, PineBridge Investments and Ivy Asset Management.

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