The latest moves and appointments in wealth management in the UK, the rest of Europe, the Middle East and other select locations.

ALFI
The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry has appointed senior European private banking industry figure Serge Weyland as the new director general of ALFI. He will succeed Camille Thommes, who has been in the post since 2007.

His mandate will be effective as of 1 January, 2024, the organisation said in a statement earlier this week. ALFI has also appointed Emmanuel Gutton, director of legal and tax, as deputy director general with immediate effect.

With more than 25 years of work experience, Weyland has worked in different areas of the investment fund value chain including depositary services, investment management, fund distribution, business strategy and product and service development. 

From 2010 to 2014, Weyland was head of regional coverage North America and UK at CACEIS Bank Luxembourg, and between 2014 to 2017, head of financial institutions at Banque Internationale à Luxembourg. Prior to joining ALFI, Weyland was CEO at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Luxembourg).

JM Finn
UK-based investment manager JM Finn has appointed Louise Hall, Vincent Camerlynck and Christophe Maters as independent non-executive directors (NEDs) to join the board.

Hall (pictured) has spent her entire 30-year career within the UK private client and wealth management industry. As an experienced investment manager, she fulfilled a number of roles during that period at Investec Wealth & Investment including head of charities and head of London investment management and most recently, as a member of the UK board.

Camerlynck is an experienced independent non-executive director, whose current mandates include Capfi Delen Asset Management. Initially focused on investment banking and equities, he has held executive positions at Petercam in New York, HSBC in London and Goldman Sachs in London and Paris. Camerlynck joined BNP Paribas Asset Management in 2005 as a member of the Group Exco and global head of business development. He also served in several senior roles including CEO and chairman of BNPP AM UK and CEO for Asia-Pacific.

Maters, who joined Ackermans & van Haaren as an investment director in May 2023, previously worked at Bain & Company, Qatar National Bank and Quintet Private Bank. Maters has experience in corporate strategy definition and implementation, M&A, performance management and transformation, and most recently sales and client delivery management.

“I know [they] will add significant insight and governance to our board and help the firm continue delivering positive outcomes for our clients,” Steven Sussman, chair of JM Finn said.

Liontrust
UK-based, Liontrust, an independent, specialist asset manager, has appointed Kristian Cook as head of UK distribution. He will report to Ian Chimes, head of global distribution.

Cook joined Liontrust in March 2018 as single strategy sales manager in London. Prior to joining Liontrust, he was at Franklin Templeton and JP Morgan Asset Management.

Under Cook’s leadership, the UK single strategy and multi-asset sales teams will be amalgamated. The new UK sales structure will provide greater focus and clarity of responsibilities and will broaden the product range for each salesperson, the firm said in a statement.

The team will promote both single strategy funds and solutions, with the latter including sustainable managed funds, multi-asset funds and portfolios, depending on the individual requirements of clients.

“The appointment of Kristian as head of UK distribution reflects his substantial contribution to our sales over the past few years and great relationships with clients. He will be leading a very knowledgeable team with the determination to deliver for our clients,” Chimes said.

AXA Investment Manager
AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed Matthieu Ducharme as head of private equity secondaries at AXA IM Prime, the private markets enabler and hedge funds platform of AXA IM.

Based in London, Ducharme starts with immediate effect and reports to Peter Ischebeck, head of private equity at AXA IM Prime, the firm said in a statement.

In this newly-created role, Ducharme is responsible for all aspects of AXA IM Prime’s private equity secondaries strategy, overseeing the sourcing and execution of transactions, as well as the development of secondary products.

“Matthieu brings a wealth of experience in scaling private equity secondaries’ programs globally, and his deep sector expertise will be invaluable to investors and General Partners looking to take advantage of the strong growth in the secondary market,” Pascal Christory, chief executive officer of AXA IM Prime said.

The firm added that Ducharme’s appointment builds on AXA IM Prime’s expansion in private markets with a number of new products launched in recent months and a fast-growing team since its establishment last year.