The senior appointments will bolster the investment manager’s global product, exchange traded funds and Asia Pacific capabilities.

California-headquartered investment manager Franklin Templeton yesterday appointed Elizabeth Hogbin as head of global product and Rene Buehlmann as head of Asia Pacific. Patrick O’Connor will transition from head of global exchange traded funds (ETFs) to vice chairman of the Global Client Group, the firm said in a statement.

These changes to expand the Global Client Group aim to build on Franklin Templeton’s business performance and position the firm to sustain that progress. In the fiscal year to date, the firm said it has generated $63.4 billion in net inflows with growth across wealth and institutional clients, asset classes and regions.

Under Daniel Gamba, co-president and chief commercial officer, Franklin Templeton said it has been reshaping its Global Client Group to meet several priorities central to the firm’s strategy, including accelerating its ETF business, establishing a more unified global product organisation, deepening its presence in Asia Pacific, bringing public and private capabilities to its clients, and enhancing its ability to serve institutional clients worldwide.

The appointments follow the recent additions of Brett Mossman as head of US product and Lyenda Delp as head of global insurance and institutional asset solutions, as well as the elevation of Kim Roy to chief operating officer of the Global Client Group. Collectively, these changes are creating greater coordination across the firm’s product, distribution, institutional and regional organisations, the firm said.

“Clients increasingly want to work with fewer partners that can help them address larger and more complex needs across public and private markets and a range of investment vehicles,” said Gamba. “We have been intentional about assembling a leadership team with the experience and capabilities needed to meet that demand, translate Franklin Templeton’s progress into durable growth and bring the full strength of the firm to clients around the world.”

Hogbin will join the firm on 30 September, leading the strategy, development, positioning and commercialisation of the firm’s product platform across asset classes, investment vehicles and regions. In this newly-consolidated role, she will focus on strengthening global product governance, simplifying the platform, and introducing innovation earlier in the development process, the firm continued. Hogbin will be joining from T Rowe Price, where she led the global product organisation. She previously held investment and product management positions at Wellington Management and worked at Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company.

Buehlmann will join the investment manager on 21 September to lead the firm’s business throughout the region. He brings more than 35 years of experience across asset management, wealth management and banking. Buehlmann previously served as global chief executive officer of Aberdeen Investments and spent nearly three decades at UBS, including as head of UBS asset management in Asia Pacific. He has lived and worked in Asia for more than two decades and will divide his time between Hong Kong and Singapore, the firm said.

O’Connor, who has helped build Franklin Templeton’s ETF business from its inception to over $75 billion in assets, will transition to vice chairman of the Global Client Group, the firm continued. He will serve as a senior advisor to Gamba on investment solutions, innovation, strategy and global franchise expansion, with an initial focus on growing the firm’s ETF capabilities across Japan, Greater China, Korea, Taiwan and India. He will also help strengthen Franklin Templeton’s investment solutions capabilities globally.

Like a number of investment managers, the firm has been making a number of ETF launches across the US and Europe, recently with the Franklin Core US Enhanced Equity UCITS ETF. It is an active equity ETF that provides capital growth through a diversified portfolio of US equities. See here and here.