The funds servicing specialist has created a leadership position for its new initiative aimed at wealth managers in the UK.

Allfunds Bank has appointed former Royal Bank of Canada director Nick Emmins to spearhead its new investment research offering to UK wealth managers and other third-party fund buyers.

Emmins, based in London, was until recently a director at RBC, where he helped develop the bank's Luxembourg-based global fund trading platform. He has also held roles including head of business development at BNP Paribas Securities Services, head of institutional sales at BNP Paribas Asset Management and head of investment sales at M&G Investments.

The appointment is in response to rising regulatory requirements that UK fund buyers must comply with, as well as the need for robust processes around the selection of funds for their clients. Allfunds' investment research capability selects from a range of over 46,000 funds from nearly 500 fund managers around the world. It has a 17-strong team who cover governance, risk and portfolio analysis, at both fund and fund house level.

“We are in a good position to provide significant qualitative fund manager research, together with portfolio risk analysis and structural and operational due diligence services to help UK wealth managers and other third-party fund buyers to fulfil all requirements in order to offer best advisory services to their clients. I’m therefore delighted that Nicholas is joining us, to help enable this to happen,” said Allfunds' global head of investment research, Enrique Pardo. 

Allfunds Bank has more than €215 billion ($236 billion) in assets under administration. It has offices in Spain, Italy, the UK, Chile, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Colombia and Luxembourg.