UBS
UBS has announced a number of changes to its group executive board, the firm’s most senior management body.
Martin Blessing, currently president personal and corporate banking and president UBS Switzerland, will become president wealth management.
Blessing has run the business of UBS in Switzerland since September 2016, prior to this he spent 15 years on the managing directors of Commerzbank, half of which were as its chairman.
Blessing succeeds Jurg Zeltner who will step down from the GEB at the end of this year and retire from the firm in 2018.
Zeltner was a veteran of UBS, having served the firm for over 30 years. He joined Swiss Bank Corporation as an apprentice in 1984.
Axel P. Lehmann, currently Group Chief Operating Officer, will succeed Martin Blessing as president personal and corporate banking and president UBS Switzerland.
Additionally, Sabine Keller-Busse will take on the role of group chief operating officer from Lehmann and the group chief operating office will be expanded to include the group human resources function.
FPSB
South Africa’s financial planning standards board has named Gerhardt Meyer as chairperson elect of its board of directors beginning 1 April 2018.
Following his one year term as chairperson elect he will transition to the position of FPSB board chairperson.
Meyer currently serves as a volunteer director of FPSB, and is employed as head of governance for the wealth division of Old Mutual South Africa.
He has been a member of various South African and international industry bodies and committees and is a past Chairperson of FPSB’s member organization in South Africa – the Financial Planning Institute (FPI).
Jupiter
Jupiter Asset Management has appointed Ash Ray as head of governance research.
In this new role, Ray, who has worked in Jupiter’s governance team for 10 years, will report directly to Stephen Pearson, chief investment officer and chairman of Jupiter’s stewardship committee.
Ray will lead a team of governance analysts providing research and guidance on regulatory requirements and best practice, and focusing on Jupiter’s engagement priorities for the fund management teams.
Edward Bonham Carter, Vice Chairman, will continue to undertake his policy and public engagement work in line with his role as a board member of the industry’s Investor Forum, and his position both on Jupiter’s Board and Stewardship Committee.
Jupiter will also continue to draw on Ian McVeigh’s 20 years’ experience in stewardship, with him remaining a member of the Stewardship Committee.
Deutsche AM
Deutsche Asset Management has hired Michele Gaffo to lead the asset manager’s insurance coverage globally. He will join the company on February 1, 2018 and will be based in Frankfurt.
Michele Gaffo joins from Italy’s PosteVita Insurance Group, where he most recently served as chief investment officer, responsible for managing the organisation’s investment function and developing a suite of new investment solutions and insurance products.
Prior to this, he was chief investment officer of Allianz Italy and global head of asset liability management of Allianz SE in Munich. In total, he will bring 20 years of industry experience to his new role.
Cigna
Cigna has continued its expansion in France with the appointment of a senior sales director.
Thien Brechon has been appointed as senior sales director France, responsible for leading the organisation’s expanding health insurance services for globally mobile employees.
Brechon joins Cigna after a 20-year career with the Henner Group where, most recently, she led the international employee benefits department, advising companies on the health insurance issues of their expatriate employees.
Artemis
Artemis Investment Management LLP has appointed Andy Marsh to work alongside Adrian Frost in the Artemis Income team in February 2018.
Having trained with Ernst & Young, Frost qualified as an accountant in 1997 before working as an analyst for ING Charterhouse and then for Merrill Lynch. In 2005 he moved to Investec Investment Bank as head of equity sales. For the last 11 years, Frost has managed money at Polar Capital, where he was a partner.
