Columbia Threadneedle
Columbia Threadneedle Investments has appointed Vijay Sekhar as director of its Middle East operations. Based in the Dubai office, Sekhar will report into regional head Suhail Albaz.
His role will include “strengthening” relationships with global and regional private banks, insurance platforms as well as with independent financial advisers.
Having worked in Dubai since 2004, Sekhar joins the company from ICICI Prudential Asset Management. Prior to this, he worked at Reliance Capital, Citibank, ABN Amro and JM Capital.
Theam
Isabelle Bourcier has been named as head of ETF and indexed fund activities at Theam, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas Investment Partners.
In charge of the indexed management team, Bourcier will work on the firm’s indexed and ETF investment solutions across key markets such as France and the rest of Europe. She will report to chief executive Denis Panel and will be a member of Theam’s executive committee.
RBC WM
RBC Wealth Management has promoted Peter Corry to the role of head of its Asia division.
Based in Singapore, Corry will replace Barend Janssens, who retires next week. Corry is currently the vice president of strategic initiatives, change management and finance at RBC
He will report into Stuart Rutledge, the head of wealth management for international markets.
Kames Capital
Kames Capital has hired David Ennett to lead its high yield team. Ennett‘s resignation from his role as head of European high yield at Standard Life Investments was confirmed by the company on 31 May.
The role will start from September 2016.
Heading up the high-yield team, he will also be co-manager of the Kames High Yield Bond and the Kames High Yield Global Bond funds alongside current co-manager Phil Milburn, who will be returning to Kames in Q3 following absence due to ill health.
Current co-manager Claire McGuckin has left the business.
In the interim head of fixed income David Roberts will be responsible for Kames’ high yield funds, supported by Stephen Baines.
SLI
Fraser Duff has been named as David Ennett’s replacement and will be the new lead manager of SLI’s Higher Income Fund and European High Yield Fund.
He will also be appointed as a co-manager of the Total Return Credit Fund, joining the four-strong management team.
Duff has been with Standard Life Investments for five years, focusing on managing European high yield funds, working with Ennett since 2012.
With 13 years of investment experience, Duff has also held roles in credit research, covering the chemical and pharmaceuticals sectors. This includes working for Lehman Brothers as a research analyst and sector specialist.
continued on the next page: Alliance Trust, Julius Baer, Elian
