Crédit Agricole Asset Management group is to enhance its presence in Australia. After opening a representative office in Sydney in early 2007, CAAM Group has now created a wholly-owned subsidiary: Crédit Agricole Asset Management Australia. The launch of CAAM Australia underlines the group’s commitment to Australia and New Zealand and its confidence in the local asset management industry. Over the past year, local assets under management have grown to just under A$1.2 billion ($1.1 billion). This move is accompanied by the appointment in Australia of John Maragiannis as director of distribution, joining from Crédit Suisse Asset Management where he was head of institutional sales until March 2006. Prior to this he ran the institutional sales function for Schroder Investment Management. Reporting to country head Richard Borysiewicz, Mr Maragiannis will be responsible for new client sales and relationships in institutional and retail markets and developing the investment infrastructure for CAAM Australia.