The Switzerland-listed investment firm has replaced its long-serving distribution head.

GAM has appointed Tim Rainsford from Man Group as its new group head of distribution, responsible for global sales and marketing as well as product development.

Rainsford was previously global co-head of sales and marketing at Man. He will assume his new London-based role at the beginning of 2017. He succeeds Craig Wallis, who will step down from GAM's group management board at the end of this year.

“Tim Rainsford is a world-class investment management executive, with deep experience in the leadership of global distribution teams, and with a proven business development track record across different geographies and client segments,” said Alexander Friedman, group chief executive at GAM.

“I would like to thank Craig Wallis for having built our excellent distribution capability over the past 11 years, and for his engaged leadership in the transformation of our operating model, a project he will continue to oversee until its completion. We wish him the very best for his future endeavours."

The appointment follows GAM's recent acquisition of Cantab Capital Partners, a UK multi-strategy systematic manager that oversees $4.0 billion in assets for institutional clients worldwide. At the same time, GAM launched its GAM Systematic investment platform.