Boston, US

Citywire Amplify can reveal that Todd Cassler, the head of institutional distribution for the US, South America and Emea at John Hancock Investments and Manulife, has left after 16 years.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Cassler was a member of the executive management team and oversaw the company’s defined contribution investment-only and global financial institutions businesses. Before joining John Hancock, he worked at Neuberger Berman and American Skandia.

A spokesperson for John Hancock, which is a subsidiary of Manulife Financial, confirmed that Cassler was no longer with the firm due to ‘the elimination of the role of head of institutional distribution in the US and Europe’.

‘We are grateful to him for his many contributions to our organization, our institutional team, and our clients.’

Amplify contacted Cassler for comment but he had not responded by the time of publication.

New York, US

Ninety One has hired Gregg Abramson as head of institutional in the Northeast, where he will be responsible for the firm’s engagement with institutional asset owners and their respective consultants in the region. He will also be a member of the North American client group’s leadership team.

Abramson joins from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he served as managing director for client solutions and capital markets providing customised investment solutions to several of the firm’s US institutional clients including pension plans, public funds, endowments and foundations. Before that, he was a director at Commonfund Asset Management.

Abramson will be based in New York.

Paris, France

BNP Paribas Asset Management has appointed Jérémy Tubiana as ETF and index solutions development manager for France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco and French-speaking Switzerland.

He will be responsible for increasing BNPP AM’s ETF and index fund exposure in French-speaking markets while strengthening its commercial activity with institutional clients and distributors.

Tubiana joins from Lyxor Asset Management, where he was the ETF development manager. He will report to Lorraine Sereyjol-Garros, the global head of ETF development and index solutions.

Southampton, UK

Crestbridge has hired David Bridger as the head of its Southampton office, which was opened last year in December.

Bridger, a qualified chartered accountant with expertise in the alternative asset classes, will be responsible for overseeing and developing the operational side of the business. He joins from Aztec Group, where he managed a team that provided accounting and administration services for private equity funds and pension schemes. Before that, he worked at a consultancy firm managing auditing teams.

London, UK

Fulcrum Asset Management has hired Edward Osborne-Fardon as its marketing director after he joined the fund as an interim marketing consultant in 2021.

Collaborating with creative partners Girardot, Osborne-Fardon worked on refreshing of Fulcrum’s brand and logo. The new look has now been rolled out across the website, social media platforms and marketing material.

He joins from Cazenove Capital, where he was the head of UK marketing. He has also held several senior position roles at Vanguard, Prudential, First Sentier Investors and Jupiter.

Boston, US

RBC Global Asset Management US has appointed Dave Eikenberg to the position of RBC funds president, while continuing in his current role as head of US intermediary and subadvisory sales. He will replace Kathleen Gorman, who left after 16 years.

Eikenberg, who joined RBC GAM four years ago, will be responsible for developing the vision and strategy of US fund vehicles for all of GAM distribution. He will continue to report to Mike Lee, the head of North American institutional.

Pretoria, South Africa

Allan Gray has hired Henk Venter as a business development manager.

He joins from boutique asset manager Rezco, where he was an investment specialist for the past four years. Before that, he spent 10 years in various roles at Kainos Wealth.

Milan, Italy

Credit Suisse Asset Management has appointed Emanuele Bellingeri as the head of third-party wholesale distribution in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Bellingeri, who joined Credit Suisse three years ago, will continue to be the fund’s head of asset management and director.

Before joining Credit Suisse, he worked for 10 years at BlackRock, responsible for the development of the iShares platform in Italy.

Milan, Italy

AllianceBernstein has hired Fabrizio Capati as director for distribution in Italy, where he will be jointly responsible for consultancy for the retail market alongside retail sales advisor Elisa Bruscagin.

Capati, who has over 15 years of experience in the industry, joins from Lazard Fund Managers, where he was the head of retail distribution. Before that, he worked at Vontobel Asset Management for 13 years.

He will report to AllianceBernstein Italy’s country head, Giovanni De Mare.

Singapore

Franklin Templeton has hired Rahul Bhalla for the newly created role of head of Asia ETF distribution.

He will be responsible for growing the investment house’s passive business and raising its profile in Asia.

Before joining Franklin Templeton, Bhalla was the head of Amicorp Asset Management. He has also held several senior positions at IHS Markit, Vanguard and UBS.

He will report to the global head of ETFs Patrick O’Connor, and Apac regional co-heads, Tariq Ahmad and Matt Harrison.

Frankfurt, Germany

BlueOrchard Finance and Schroders have hired Steffen Klawitter as senior vice-president of business development for its German market.

Klawitter joins from impact asset manager, Finance in Motion, where he has been the head of investor relations since 2015. An industry veteran with more than 25 years, he has worked in various senior roles at Deutsche Bank where he began his career in 1993.

He will report to Achim Küssner, the head of Schroders’ German office in Frankfurt and will work alongside Daniel Perroud, the global head of business development at BlueOrchard in Zurich.

New York, US

DWS Group has appointed Dirk Görgen as chief executive for the Americas region. He will be taking over from Mark Cullen who is retiring after 30 years in the industry.

Görgen, who joined DWS in 2018, will be responsible for identifying growth opportunities and bolstering the company’s position in the market. He will also continue his role as a member of the management board and global head of the client coverage division.

Before joining DWS, Görgen worked for Deutsche Bank in Germany overseeing sales for private customers.

Frankfurt, Germany

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has appointed Andreas Riss, in a newly created role, as its institutional client director.

Riss, who joined LGIM earlier this month from Universal Investment, has over 20 years of experience in the asset management industry. He will be responsible for the development of LGIM’s institutional business in the German-speaking region, in addition to overseeing the pension classes, consultants and insurance companies.

Riss will report to Silvia Schaak, the co-head of institutional for Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Frankfurt, Germany

Columbia Threadneedle Investments has hired Birgit Stocker as senior marketing manager of Dach, where she will be tasked with overseeing the marketing operations of the asset manager in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Stocker has over 20 years of marketing and PR experience in the asset management industry. She has worked in various senior roles at Degroof Petercam Asset Management, Axa Investment Managers and NN Investment Partners.

Frankfurt, Germany/Zurich, Switzerland

M&G Investments has appointed Werner Kolitsch as head of Dach distribution, Patrick Abgottspon as senior relationship manager for institutional clients, and Robin Diener as a senior sales representative.

Kolitsch, who joined M&G in 2015, will manage the Swiss sales market while continuing in his current role as the country head for Germany and Austria.

Abgottspon, who will be based in Zurich, joins from Clearstream Fund Centre. He has worked in various leadership roles at UBS, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Franklin Templeton Investments.

Diener will be responsible for helping grow M&G’s wholesale business and customer relationships. He joins from PGIM Investments where he was the account manager. He has also worked for UBS and Goldman Sachs.