The asset management arm of Switzerland-listed Vontobel has expanded its London team with a hire from Lazard Asset Management.

Vontobel Asset Management has hired Hubert de Froberville as a senior relationship manager in London.

He joins from Lazard Asset Management, where he was responsible for raising assets for alternative strategies and managing client relationships in the UK and continental Europe. Before this, he worked at UBS Investment Bank, responsible for capital introduction and prime brokerage activities.

In the newly-created role, de Froberville will manage the firm's relationships with financial intermediaries, wealth managers, family offices and private banks in the UK.

"Our unconstrained equity products managed by our Quality Growth Equities boutique based in New York have been very well received by UK investors. This appointment marks a new stage in diversifying the UK client base towards Vontobel Asset Management’s Zurich based capabilities, particularly those managed by its alternatives boutique, Harcourt,” said Andrew Raisman, head of UK and Ireland business at Vontobel Asset Management.

The appointment comes as part of Vontobel Asset Management's growth drive in the UK. Earlier this year, it acquired TwentyFour Asset Management, a London-based fixed income specialist. The firm has around £7 billion ($11 billion) in assets under management in the UK and Ireland.