BlackRock
Former UK chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, has joined the BlackRock Investment Institute as a senior adviser. He joins the asset manager’s research unit in a part-time capacity.
The institute is led by BlackRock vice chairman Philipp Hildebrand and was created in 2011 to provide research and investment insights to clients and fund managers.
Pimco
Kimberley Stafford has been appointed head of Asia Pacific for Pimco. She is currently a managing director and global head of consultant relations. She will relocate from Newport Beach, California to Hong Kong to take up her new role.
Stafford replaces Eric Mogelof, who will be taking up a new role as the firm’s head of US global wealth management business. Mogelof will move to New York from Hong Kong in June.
Manulife Asset Management
Fidelity’s former country head of Korea, Michael Reed, has been appointed chief executive for Manulife AM Thailand. Reed assumed his new role on 17 January and has been tasked with developing and implementing the firm’s growth strategy in the country.
He brings with him 20 years’ industry experience, having held senior management roles in financial services firms in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan.
Friends Provident International
Robert Ewan has joined FPI as product marketing manager in the Isle of Man from Hansard International. Ewan has also previously worked for Aegon UK, Scottish Widows, Axa, and the Bank of Ireland.
James Hambro & Partners
Investment manager James Beck is to join James Hambro & Partners as a partner from Quilter Cheviot, which he helped found, where he was responsible for managing portfolios on behalf of individuals, trusts, charities and pension funds.
Prior to that, Beck worked at James Capel Investment Management and Laing & Cruickshank Investment Management, which was acquired by UBS Wealth Management.
Charles Stanley
Tina Cook has been promoted to head of equity research at Charles Stanley. She joined the firm in 2008 as an equities analyst to cover utilities, having previously worked for Hardman & Co as a small-cap analyst.
In her new role, Cook will work closely with the investment strategy committee and other areas of the research team to develop the firm’s research offering.
