The European asset manager has boosted its biotech investment capabilities with a new Brussels-based position.

Candriam Investors Group, owned by New York Life Investment Management, has appointed Servaas Michielssens as a senior biotechnology analyst in Belgium.

Michielssens will work on the firm's Brussels-based biotech equity strategy. He previously spent two years at the Max Planck Institute in Germany where he developed computational protocols serving research of biomolecules with improved properties. 

“Servaas Michielssens has great knowledge of small molecule drug development and this is complementary with the other team members who are more protein drug specialists,” said Rudi Van den Eynde, head of thematic global equity. 

The hire follows that of Andreas Wenk, who joined earlier this week as head of global financial institutions. Based in Frankfurt, Wenk is responsible for the firm’s client relations with international wealth management institutions.

The Candriam Equities L Biotechnology fund held assets of around $500 million at the end of February 2016. Candriam managed about €94.1 billion as of the end of last year.