Aviva Investors, the global asset management business, has appointed Heather Brown as head of EMEA institutional client relationship management.
Previously lead for Aviva Investors’ UK Institutional sales team, Brown will report to Steven Gardner, head of Institutional, EMEA, who joined Aviva Investors in May 2024.
In her new role, she will be responsible for strengthening Aviva Investors’ relationships and ongoing servicing with its existing institutional investor clients. She was previously primarily responsible for business development with UK pension schemes.
Brown joined Aviva investors in 2018 following a number of years as an investment consultant. She also has experience as a trustee director for the hybrid Aviva Staff Pension and in prior roles spent a number of years advising both defined benefit and defined contribution pension scheme clients on a range of investment issues, including strategic asset allocation and manager selection.
Her appointment comes as Aviva Investors continues to focus on growing its institutional business across a range of private and public market investment strategies, including supporting increased access for institutional investors to investment opportunities in Private Markets through the creation of its range of Long Term Asset Funds (LTAFs).
In November the firm launched the Aviva Investors Multi-Sector Private Debt LTAF, its third fund under the LTAF regime, adding to its Real Estate Active LTAF in May 2023 and conversion of its Climate Transition Real Asset Fund to sit under the new regime in March this year, with Aviva Investors’ ambition to be the go-to LTAF provider for the UK’s DC and Wealth markets.
The process to appoint a new head of UK Institutional following Heather’s promotion is currently underway.
Steven Gardner, head of institutional, EMEA, at Aviva Investors, said: “Client service and relationship management is vital in understanding how we can help institutional investors navigate market challenges and support them in reaching their long-term investment objectives.
“We view it as critically important component of Aviva Investors’ overall offering, and fundamental to our future success. I am therefore thrilled to have Heather lead our efforts in this regard with her deep understanding of the needs of institutional clients and their advisors making her the stand-out candidate for the role, as we continue to prioritise servicing for our existing clients whilst strengthening our Distribution capabilities and supporting our growth objectives.”
