Industry heavyweight MassMutual has appointed Gary Smith as head of sovereign wealth funds and official institutions of its asset management companies.

The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, also known as MassMutual, has appointed Gary Smith as head of sovereign wealth funds and official institutions of its asset management companies.

Smith will work across the distribution networks of group companies Barings Asset Management, Babson Capital and OFI Global Asset Management, effective immediately. 

The newly established role will allow Smith to report into all three businesses, while based in London.

He joins MassMutual from BNP Paribas Investment Partners, where he worked for five years, most recently as global head of official institutions. In this role he was responsible for managing the relationship with a variety of institutional clients, including central banks and sovereign wealth funds. Prior to this he held positions with BNP Paribas Group, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Greenwell Montagu, gaining more than 25 years experience across the industry.

MassMutual, an international investment giant, had a reported $613 billion assets under management across the groups firms and subsidiaries.