Britten was most recently chief executive of BlackRock Australia and has over 16 years of fund management experience. Prior to that, he worked as CEO for BGI in Australia and New Zealand after holding various positions within the firm. 

He announced he would leave BlackRock in February and hand over the reigns to BlackRock's Damien Frawley between then and now. 

At Credit Suisse, Britten will be responsible for asset management operations in the country, working closely with the pension coverage group led by Matthew Perrignon. He is based in Sydney and reports directly to David Livingstone, the CEO of Australia, and Neil Harvey, head of asset management Asia Pacific. He started the role this week, confirmed the Zurich-based bank.

Part of his role is a mandate to grow all three of Credit Suisse's business lines across alternative investments, asset allocation and advisory, and emerging markets.

The announcement follows the appointment of Edward Jewell-Tait as head of private banking, Australia in early June.