Henderson Global Investors, a UK-listed firm with a strong connection to the Asia region, has appointed Matt Gaden as head of distribution for its Australian business.

Reporting to Rob Adams, executive chairman of Henderson Australia, Gaden will be in charge of distributing the firm’s investment capability across retail and institutional markets, it said in a statement yesterday.

At present, Gaden is general manager, institutional business & strategic alliances for Challenger Limited, where he has worked since 2003, overseeing institutional and retail distribution teams. Prior to that role, he was with First State Investments in the UK and Colonial First State, where he ran the retail business development teams.

The firm said the appointment was the first major hire for Henderson in Australia since it announced, in May this year, it intended to create “a pure funds management business”, appointing Rob Adams as executive chairman.

In July, Nick Evans joined Adams in Australia as executive director. Evans has been at Henderson Global Investors for over seven years and was head of Henderson’s indirect property business before moving to Australia.

A firm with a history dating back to 1934, Henderson manages £65 billion (as at 30 September 2012) assets on behalf of clients in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America and employs 1,074 staff.