Syntrus Achmea, State Street Global Advisors, BlackRock, Amundi, Universities Superannuation Scheme, Sussex Partners, Putnam Investments, Schroders Multi-Asset, BlueBay Asset Management, Aon Hewitt, KNEIP, SYZ Asset Management, Advent Capital Management

Syntrus Achmea – The €79bn asset manager has appointed Mark Bakker as business development director, focusing on institutional investors. Until recently, Bakker was director of Investments & Treasury at the Stichting Algemeen Pensioenfonds Aruba. Before then, he worked as an asset manager at Achmea Pension & Life Insurance. In his new role, Bakker is to succeed Frans Annokkee, who joined Switzerland-based Pictet Asset Management on 1 September.

State Street Global Advisors – Suzanne Dos Santos-Wahl has been appointed head of institutional sales for France, Monaco and Iberia. She joins from Franklin Templeton Investments in Paris, where she worked for more than 10 years as a senior sales manager focused on institutional clients. Before then, she worked at Robeco Gestions as senior relationship manager and was also previously a private client adviser at Banque Robeco.

BlackRock – Lars Meisinger has been appointed COO at BlackRock Alternative Investors covering the EMEA region. In the newly created role, he will be responsible for the development of strategic priorities for the alternatives business. He joins from MAN Group, where he was most recently head of Business Strategy at FRM, the hedge fund solutions business of Man Group. Before joining Man Group in 2006, he held management positions at AXA Investment Managers in Frankfurt and London.

Amundi – Raphaël Sobotka has been appointed global head of multi-asset management solutions for institutional investors. Prior to joining Amundi, Sobotka was CIO at HSBC Multimanager’s EMEA division in London. Before then, he was head of financial engineering within HSBC Asset Management before setting up its Multimanager division in 2000. Separately, Amundi has also recruited a new head of International High-Yield Bond Management, Kenneth Monaghan, who joins Amundi Smith Breeden, the group’s fixed income management centre in the US.

Universities Superannuation Scheme – Jennifer Halliday has been appointed CFO, succeeding David Webster, who stepped down this summer. She has previously worked as a global finance director for Quaker Chemical Corporation, and spent 13 years at Vanguard Group, where she ultimately became principal and global controller. 

Sussex Partners – The specialist advisory firm focused on alternatives has appointed Frederic Neefs as a partner. Neefs was for 14 years head of investments at Credit Agricole Asset Management. Most recently, he was a partner at Lozé & Associes.

Putnam Investments – Jeffrey Gould has been appointed head of Putnam Global Institutional, covering North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. He joins from Lazard Asset Management, where he was managing director and head of US institutional marketing. Prior to joining Lazard, he was managing director and global head of distribution at Citigroup Alternative Investments.

Schroders Multi-Asset – Henriette Bergh has been appointed head of Europe Product and Manager Solutions, excluding the UK. She joins from Morgan Stanley & Co International, where she was most recently head of sales for private wealth management for the EMEA region.

BlueBay Asset Management – Wike Groenenberg has been appointed director of macro alternative strategy in a newly created role. He was previously managing director and head of Emerging Markets Strategy at Citi.

Aon Hewitt – The consultancy has promoted five UK-based partners to its global consulting team: Colin Haines, Jay Harvey, George Mortimer, Daniel Peters and Sophia Singleton.

KNEIP – Jackie Dunne has been appointed global head of Relationship Management. Before joining KNEIP, she was deputy chief executive at BNY Mellon Clearing International. Before then, she worked at HSBC Securities Services and Setanta Asset Management.

SYZ Asset Management – The institutional arm of Swiss banking group SYZ & CO has appointed Michael Clements as head of European equities. He joins from Franklin Templeton, where he worked for six years.

Advent Capital Management – Robert Gourlay has been appointed head of European business development. For nearly 10 years, Gourlay led business development at RWC Partners (formerly MPC Investors).

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