The new hire will join the firm on 2 January.

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, has appointed David Cumming as chief investment officer of equities.

Cumming will join the company on 2 January, and will report to Euan Munro, chief executive of Aviva Investors, the firm said in a statement.

He will be responsible for leading Aviva Investors’ equity teams globally, which manage £69 billion ($92.2 billion) of assets on behalf of Aviva and external clients. 

Previously, Cumming was head of equities at Standard Life Investments between 2010 and March 2017. He joined SLI in 1998 as an investment director, and was appointed head of UK equities in 2000.

After this appointment, Chris Murphy, global head of equities since January 2015, will continue to manage the Aviva Investors UK Equity Fund, the Aviva Investors UK Equity Income Fund and the Aviva Investors Distribution Fund.

“David has strong leadership qualities and an excellent track record in running equity strategies that appeal to both institutional and wholesale clients," said Munro. "His arrival is a signal of our intent to invest in our equities business, which will strengthen our range of investment solutions for Aviva and external clients. I’d also like to thank Chris Murphy for his leadership of the Equities team over the past two years. I know Chris is now looking forward to focusing all his efforts on managing funds and delivering strong investment performance for our clients.”

In November, this publication reported that Aviva Investors had expanded its real estate asset management team in Europe with the appointment of Matthias Hübner as a fund manager of long income Europe and Alexander Sperl as an asset manager of real estate.