Schroders, the UK-listed investment house, has appointed Mark Brandreth as co-head of research within its quantitative equity products global equities team.

In his new London-based role, Brandreth is responsible for researching new investment ideas and applying these into the investment process, the firm said in a statement. He also will work closely with Sydney-based co-head of research David Philpotts in ensuring communication and coordination of research functions within the team.

Brandreth joined the firm from BlackRock, where he was a managing director in scientific active equities. Prior to that, he worked at Barclays Global Investors.

Currently, the QEP team manages in excess of £10 billion (about $15.4 billion).

In the first six months of 2010 Schroders’ profit before tax and exceptional items surged to £188.2 million from £36.3 million a year before, while funds under management rose to £164 billion from £148.4 billion at the end of 2009.