Vanguard, the US-based funds firm, has appointed Peter Westaway as chief European economist.

Previously Westaway held a similar position at Nomura International; before that, he was senior research advisor for the Bank of England.

In his new role Westaway will be responsible for creating macroeconomic forecasts and analyses to support Vanguard’s global portfolio strategies. He will also develop research on investment-related strategies, heading up the firm's European research operations.

In other related news, the firm expanded its London office in November. Joy Yang was named as head of the equities team, having previously worked at Scudder, BGI, AXA Rosenburg and Scottish Widows; Nick Pierce joined as head of fixed income operations, having previously worked at BGI and Gartmore.