In a move to strengthen its European presence, the firm has opened an office in Zurich and named a country head.

Principal Global Investors, the US-based asset management firm, has opened a new office in Zurich, aiming to expand its presence in Europe. With the addition of the new office, Principal now has offices in four European cities: London, Amsterdam, Munich and Zurich.

The office will be headed by Martin Bloch, who has been appointed country head. In this role, Bloch will lead the company’s development in the Swiss market and will be responsible for building relationships with financial intermediaries and institutional investors.

Bloch has almost three decades of experience in the asset management industry. He joins Principal from Robeco N.V./RobecoSAM, where he served as country manager, head of sales in Switzerland. Before this, Bloch was managing director and founder of CPP Constant Portfolio Protection AG for 8 years. He also previously worked in leadership roles at Merrill Lynch International and Banca Della Svizzera Italiana in Switzerland.

“It is exciting to be starting the year with a new office in Switzerland and announcing Martin’s appointment,” said Nick Lyster, global head of wealth advisory services at Principal. “He has extensive knowledge of the Swiss market and I am confident that his experience will be hugely beneficial to our efforts to expand our wealth advisory services in Switzerland and Europe.”

As of 31 December 2016, Principal Global Investors had $411.1 billion in assets under management. Of this amount, $17.6 billion is managed on behalf of European investors.