In a statement today (12 September), PGIM said this marked its formal entry into the Middle East market, “underscoring its commitment to serving institutional and professional clients in the region”.

PGIM said it has served clients in the Middle East for many years offering active management and client-focused advisory services across private and public markets, meeting client needs in private alternatives (real estate, agriculture, private equity and private credit); fixed income; equities; multi-asset solutions; and retirement and fund solutions.

Its global team comprises more than 1,400 investment professionals, averaging 22 years of experience, across 41 offices in 19 countries.

Arvind Ramamurthy, chief of market development at ADGM, said: “We are proud to welcome PGIM, one of the largest asset management companies in the world, to one of the largest financial districts in the world — ADGM. PGIM’s expansion into Abu Dhabi marks an important milestone in leveraging its unparalleled expertise and comprehensive range of services alongside ADGM’s robust ecosystem to unlock a wealth of investment opportunities in the region. Their role in driving growth and innovation in the region will strengthen ADGM’s position as a global financial powerhouse.”

Mohammed Abdulmalek, recently appointed as head of the Middle East for PGIM and chairman of the newly established local entity, said: “PGIM is well equipped to offer bespoke investment solutions that align with the region’s economic growth and transformation. Abu Dhabi remains a key market for us, and the establishment of our new legal entity in ADGM emphasises our ongoing dedication to our presence in the UAE and our commitment to the Middle East. I look forward to leading PGIM’s efforts in delivering value to our clients and contributing to the financial landscape of the UAE.”

PGIM also announced the appointment of Emira Socorro as senior executive officer, heading the newly opened office in Abu Dhabi and a member of the board of the local entity. With over 25 years of experience in asset management and investment banking across the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, Socorro has held senior positions at J.P. Morgan Chase and Arcapita. Additionally, she has led a private advisory practice that connected Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) family offices with Islamically compliant real estate investment opportunities in the United States and Europe, while also advising GCC family offices on their investment portfolios.

The global asset manager has appointed Oskar Geldof as head of BeNeLux.

Geldof has over 20 years’ experience and joins after a decade at Fidelity International where he was head of institutional sales for the Netherlands.

GSB Capital

The global wealth manager has hired Natasha Nathanielsz as client impact manager.

Nathanielsz brings 20 years’ experience in banking, customer service, and bank office administration support.

Evelyn Partners

The financial services company has expanded its Bristol financial planning team, hiring Bronwen Lancaster as partner, Joy Wisniewski as associate director of financial planning, and Chris Iles as a financial planner.

Lancaster has 20 years’ experience and joins Evelyn Partners from law firm, Irwin Mitchell.

Wisniewski joins from Hartsfield, where she spent 9 years, and previously worked as an advanced financial planner in banking in Australia.

Iles joins from Schroders Personal Wealth where he was a chartered financial planner.

Franklin Templeton

The investment service firm has appointed Maximilian Beeck as head of wholesale Switzerland.

Starting his career at UBS, Beeck has also previously worked at Janus Henderson and Allianz Global Investors.

Natixis Investment Managers

The asset manager has appointed Laura Kaliszewski as global head of client sustainable investing.

Kaliszewski joined Natixis in 2020 and has more than 15 years‘ experience in sustainable and impact investing, portfolio management, credit and risk with firms such as Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan.

Charles Stanley

The wealth manager has announced Abbas Owainati as head of asset allocation and Amish Patel as head of equity research.

Owainati has held roles as a macro strategist and economist at Quilter Investors.

Patel was previously a senior equity analyst at Talisman Global Asset Management and has worked at Quilter Cheviot and Janus Henderson.

WisdomTree

The asset manager has appointed Eva Casey as director of Ireland and Channel Islands sales.

Casey has 13 years’ experience in the asset management industry and joins WisdomTree from the institutional business team at State Street Global Advisers (SSGA).

Prior to SSGA, Casey spent seven years at Invesco, and has worked at Société Générale and Aviva Investors.

Walker Crips Financial Planning

The investment service has hired Joanne Crewe and Paul Gooch as financial planners.

Crewe has spent 23 years advising clients at Pannells Financial Planning Ltd before its acquisition.

Gooch also worked at Pannells Financial Planning Ltd, spending two decades advising clients and being part of the senior leadership team.

PGIM Investments

The investment manager has announced Rochus Appert as country head of Switzerland.

Appert has 30 years’ experience in the Swiss financial industry and joins from Columbia Threadneedle where he was most recently head of discretionary sales, Switzerland.

Appert has previously worked at BMO Global Asset Management, State Street Global Advisers, Credit Suisse and WestLB.

Kleinwort Hambros

The private bank has hired Gene Salerno as its new chief investment officer (CIO).

Gene brings over 20 years’ experience of cross-asset expertise and innovation.

He has headed investment strategy for SG Kleinwort Hambros, and since 2020, has been chief transformation officer.

AAB Group

The accountancy firm has hired Emma Lancaster as chief executive.

Succeeding Graeme Allan who has been at AAB for more than 16 years, Lancaster brings 15 years of board level experience in CEO and CFO roles in private equity backed, international, and people-based businesses.

Independent Governance

The pensions trusteeship and governance services has made four new hires.

This includes Yogen Mauree and Kate Tollis as trustee directors, alongside Peter Clarke as trustee manager, and Charlotte Bracken as marketing manager.

Mauree has joined from Signet Capital as head of risk management.

Tollis brings 25 years’ experience, joining from IGG as head of scheme governance and secretariat alongside roles for the British Airways (DB) pension schemes.

Newton Investment Management

The investment manager has appointed Liliana Castillo Dearth to lead the firm’s emerging market and Asia equities team.

Dearth has managed equity strategies for more than 20 years, most recently as portfolio manager at Wellington Management. Prior to Wellington, Dearth spent 18 years at AllianceBernstein.

Sarasin & Partners

The investment manager has announced six new hires.

These include two appointments from the charities team, Alexander True and Tania McLuckie – and four appointments from the private client team – Stephen Rothwell, Nick Wood, James Fishbourne and Graeme Bruce.

True, who joined Sarasin & Partners in 2014, brings over 15 years’ experience in financial services and charity portfolio management.

McLuckie has 10 years of investment experience across multi-asset and absolute return portfolios for charities, pensions, trusts and private clients.

Rothwell brings 25 years’ experience in the investment management and banking industry, working in management positions and with private clients and their advisers.

Wood, who joined Sarasin & Partners in 1998, is responsible for managing investment portfolios including trusts and pensions.

Fishbourne joined Sarasin & Partners in 2004 and is an investment manager with responsibility for private client portfolios.

Bruce who joined the firm in 2013 manages segregated international private client portfolios.

Belasko

Belasko has appointed Hannah Dunnell as managing director in its Guernsey office.

Dunnell brings 17 years’ experience in the local financial services industry, working across fund administration, corporate services and company secretarial services.

Signatory firms would commit to six metrics-based principles under the DEI Code intended to enable the greater inclusion of wider viewpoints from the best talent, with the aim to lead to better investment outcomes, better working environments and a cycle of positive change for future generations.

Among the six principles, investment organisations will be expected to expand the diverse talent pipeline, design and implement inclusive and equitable hiring and onboarding practices, and promote practices that reduce barriers to progress. Organisations should also use their position and voice to promote DEI, improve DEI outcomes and increase measurable DEI results, the organisation said.

“CFA Institute is seeking to build a more representative and resilient industry, and we recognise that far more needs to be done across all aspects of DEI,” said Margaret Franklin, president and CEO of the CFA Institute.

See also: FCA bids to boost diversity and inclusion in financial services

“We started with out DEI Code in the US and Canada, and our UK initiative is in recognition that DEI means different things to different people in different markets. I am proud to note that CFA Institute hereby becomes the first signatory to the UK edition of the DEI Code.”

Alongside CFA Institute, asset manager PGIM was announced as one of the initial signatories to the code, with more to be announced in due course.

According to Sarah Maynard, global senior head of external diversity, equity and inclusion at CFA Institute, the CFA chose not to simply replicate the North American DEI code – launched last year and adopted by over 160 investment organisations – because of the many differences in culture, in employment law and definitions of what constitutes diversity and inclusion, particularly in relation to gender and other forms of identity.

Therefore, the UK DEI Code “incorporates UK variations in demographics, culture and societal norms”, and offers a structure that supports employers, DEI leaders and HR professionals in building “impactful and measurable DEI strategies”.

To devise the UK DEI Code, the CFA Institute worked with CFA Society UK and a DEI Code (UK) Working Group drawn from UK-based investment and DEI leaders in the UK. Using the DEI Code in North America as a foundation, it was adapted for the specific challenges and opportunities associated with the UK market.

“In the working group, we have given a lot of thought to encouraging signatories to raise their ambitions on DEI, but without introducing a long list of prescriptive requirements,” said Lindsey Stewart, CFA, director of investment stewardship research at Morningstar and lead of the working group.

“The code is designed to be scalable across a range of organisation sizes and structures, and most importantly, emphasises how important it is for signatories to demonstrate progress over time. The aim is cultural change, not tick-box compliance.”

Reporting requirements

DEI Code signatories will be asked to provide a confidential, annual progress report to CFA Institute using an accompanying reporting framework.

This should include details on the company’s DEI strategy, policy, commitments and high-level objectives, as well as an oversight of its governance process and an implementation plan to integrate DEI within the signatory organisation’s people, processes and policies. In turn, CFA Institute will report on industry-level statistics once a critical mass of signatories is reached.

Signatory organisations must meet three main foundational reporting requirements within two years of becoming a DEI Code signatory. This includes establishing a senior leader ownership and oversight governance process; formal, publicly available communications outlining the organisation’s DEI strategy and high-level objectives; and forming an implementation plan to integrate DEI within the signatory organisation’s people, processes and policies.

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The investment manager has hired Justin Onuekwusi as chief investment officer.

Onuekwusi brings a twenty-year career between Aviva Investors, Merrill Lynch and LGIM.

Previously, he was head of retail investments EMEA at LGIM.

HSBC

The private bank has hired Aladdin Hangari as head of global private banking Middle East & North Africa (MENA).

Hangari will succeed Sobhi Tabbara, who is leaving HSBC in January 2024.

Hangari brings twenty years’ experience working at Credit Suisse, most recently as chief executive of Credit Suisse (Qatar LLC) and chief executive of Aventicum Capital Management Holding AG.

HSBC has also named Patrick D’Amico as global head of Qatar.

D’Amico joins from Credit Suisse, alongside Christian Hiller, Thomas Schaad and Simon Aeschlimann who join as relationship managers.

Further, the bank has named Kouroche Achtari as market head for International Switzerland.

Achtari also joins from Credit Suisse and will enhance coverage for Swiss-based ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients and family offices.

Roy Mironi joins from Deutsche Bank as HSBC’s new desk head of Israel.

Quilter Cheviot Europe (QCE)

The European branch of UK wealth manager Quilter Cheviot has hired 4 investment managers and a trainee investment manager to its Dublin office.

Sara Williams was relationship manager and Kevin Nealon was head of retail banking for Allied Irish Banks (AIB).

Cathal O’Donnel and Alan Breen join QCE as investment managers from Canor Fitzgerald, both holding senior investment manager positions.

Aoife Murphy has re-joined QCE as a trainee investment manager having previously been a financial adviser at Walfrid Private.

AJ Bell

The investment firm has appointed Mark Rendle as its product director for advised platforms.

Rendle has been with the company for fifteen years and previously was head of marketing for AJ Bell Investcentre.

Franklin Templeton

The investment firm has appointed Matt Harrison as head of Europe & UK distribution.

Harrison brings twenty-five years of experience and was previously co-head of Asia Pacific (APAC) at Franklin Templeton.

Prior to joining the firm in 2018, he held senior positions at Colional First State, Commonwealth Bank and ING Bank.

Due to Harrison’s new role overseeing Europe and the UK, Tariq Ahmad has been named head of APAC distribution.

Ahmad has twenty years’ experience in asset management and was co-head of APAC distribution.

Further, Sandeep Singh has been promoted to head of Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa (CEEMEA) and India distribution.

Previously, Singh was head of CEEMEA distribution, where he lead and developed the firm’s retail and institutional business in CEEMEA. His duties now oversee the Indian market.

Both Harrison and Singh will take over responsibilities held by former head of EMEA distribution, Julian Ide. He has been appointed vice chair, EMEA.

PGIM Investments

The company has recruited Dominick Carlino as global head of alternative investments.

Carlino brings over twenty years’ experience in alternatives distribution across asset and wealth management.

Most recently he was managing director head of alternative investments distribution at Merrill Lynch.

Nuveen

The global investment manager has appointed Kyrylo Sukhanenko as managing director, head of UK insurance.

Sukhanenko joins Nuveen following thirteen years at Blackrock, where he was co-head of business development for its UK insurance company.

Previously, he worked as an analyst within Merrill Lynch’s emerging market equity sales team.

Pensions for Purpose

The firm has named Richard Giles as senior director.

Giles currently works as advisory group member at Pensions for Purposw.

He has experience in UK pensions, including managing the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and as strategic partnership director for TPT Retirement Solutions.

Giles also worked at PwC for 11 years where he was partner and head of pension advisory services in the north, and over 17 years at Mercer.

Ogier

Ogier’s Henry Wickham head of estate planning, wills and probate in Jersey,  has been promoted to partner.

Wickham advises on Jersey trusts, foundations and estate plannings.

Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD)

The international law firm has appointed Michael Lewis onto its financial services regulation team.

He joins after six years at Osborne Clark, having previously worked at Norton Rose, Linklaters, Simmons & Simmons and Pinsent Masons.

Quintet Private Bank

The private bank has named Warren Hastings as group co-head of investment and head of portfolio management.

Hastings has spent 12 years at Credit Suisse and most recently was head of investment management, international locations at the firm.

But while most risk assets have managed to deliver positive real returns so far this year, the broader backdrop remains challenging – as the full impact of central bank efforts to clamp down on inflationary pressures has yet to be felt.

In the face of ongoing uncertainty, six investors outline their thoughts on markets for the final quarter of the year and beyond.

Not a time for major calls

By Niall O’Sullivan, chief investment officer, multi-asset strategies, EMEA at Neuberger Berman

We have greeted this year’s equity market rally with some trepidation. While strategic asset allocations have done well, we have been cautious as equity markets appeared to diverge from economic fundamentals.

Initially, each month of divergence increased our concern about market levels, especially as investors were being paid to be patient by cash and short-term bond yields. Eventually, however, the balance between tactics and strategy made us recognise the near-term momentum was too strong to fight against, even as we held onto our medium-term outlook. By mid-year, we were shifting to neutral. But a ‘neutral’ view does not mean a portfolio has to be static.

What can be done to eke out incremental excess return opportunities? One place to look is within, rather than among, asset classes. For example, in equities, regional tilts can be explored. Japanese equities still appear attractively valued in a policy environment that remains very accommodative next to other developed markets, even after the Bank of Japan’s recent adjustments to yield-curve control.

No free lunch from here

By Andrew Lake, head of fixed income at Mirabaud Asset Management

The big danger right now is that inflation does not come down. Given people are not losing their jobs and consumers continue to spend, we must at least consider the scenario that inflation does not fall as quickly as expected.

One consequence of this would be the Fed continues to hike rates and a potential policy error occurs as they overtighten into a market that is already weakening – triggering a recession. The Bank of England could be going this way.

Overall, it is a tough environment and views are quickly flip-flopping between bull and bear. Right now, the government bond bears seem to be winning with forecasts of a ‘Goldilocks’ scenario and no recession. But the flip side of that is higher treasuries, which would cap equity market performance, so sadly there is no free lunch for investors with either scenario.

Expect greater market breadth

By Scott Berg, portfolio manager of the T Rowe Price Global Growth Equity strategy

Equity markets have performed well this year, but much of the gains have been concentrated in US mega-cap technology stocks.

In our view, rapid technological change, Covid, and geopolitical conflict are creating the setup for a bumpy ride going forward, where grinding out returns will be important. Markets will increasingly reward those companies that can withstand an economic decline and maintain or expand profit margins.

With the era of low interest rates, low taxes, low wage growth, cheap commodity prices, easy technological gains, and deflationary globalisation now passed, this will have implications for profit margins for all companies. While the first eight months in 2023 have somewhat hidden this theme, as mega‑cap technology companies have exerted a strong influence on equity returns, this narrowness will inevitably fade to create greater market breadth.

Bonds again present value

By Phil Collins, chief investment officer, multi-asset at Sarasin & Partners

Rather than looking to China, global equity markets have fixated on the hype around generative artificial intelligence (AI). This has bid up a small number of technology companies into what could be a mini asset bubble. Just seven stocks account for the lion’s share of the rise in the S&P 500 this year.

For the first time in many years, we find that bonds present attractive value. Corporate bond spreads are attractive relative to historical levels, while government bonds are close to fair value in the US, Europe and UK. Higher yields, resilient company earnings and strong balance sheets make good-quality corporate bonds a viable alternative to equities, and we have been adding long-term income generators to the portfolios.

The higher returns now available on bonds prompt a rethink of the pros and cons of holding alternatives. As well as offering competitive returns, carefully selected bonds can also provide better liquidity and lower risk profiles than some alternative investments. Even cash is coming into its own once again, with low risk returns able to compete with absolute return strategies.

The golden trust opportunity

By Nick Greenwood, manager of MIGO Opportunities plc

The investment trust sector has recently witnessed a perfect storm in recent weeks, as a number of factors coincided to trigger a rapid widening of discounts across the entire space. We have reached the point where many commentators are suggesting recent events have sounded the death knell for investment trusts. This is a call that we have heard many times over the decades, but the sector continues to evolve.

A fundamental reason why the trust sector should prosper is that asset classes such as property, private equity and shipping cannot operate within an open-ended fund. It would be impossible to sell a fraction of an office block or a containership within twenty-four hours to meet a client sale.

We firmly believe we will look back at the summer of 2023 and reflect that it represented a golden opportunity to buy discounted investment trusts.

Boon for yield-curve strategies

By Robert Tipp, chief investment strategist and head of global bonds at PGIM Fixed Income

Interest rates have just migrated from a decade of ultra-low levels back to what may be a sustained period back ‘home’ in their long-term 3-5% range. The renewed higher level of yields should easily support investment grade returns in the mid-single digits, with high-single-digit returns likely on the higher-risk sectors – such as high yield corporates and hard currency emerging market debt.

Rather than a harbinger of recession, the inverted yields of many DM markets suggest investors’ collective psyche remains anchored in the low-rate era, convinced that rates will be lower in the near future. Just as investors never caught up with the 40-year secular decline in rates, the inverted curve could be with us for some time, leaving a boon for yield-curve strategies.

Furthermore, with the vast majority of rate hikes behind us, market volatility is set to fall. A re-emergence of the ‘search for yield’ is likely to follow, providing a tailwind for spread product and further boosting returns.

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