EUROPE - Fortis Bank has appointed Ernst &Young’s Jimmy Donnelly to the newly created position as senior business development manager at its Prime Fund Solutions arm.

Donnelly, who was manager at Ernst &Young’s Investment Management Group in Dublin, joined the unit in London last month.

He will assist with the sales and marketing of fund administration, global custody and banking, as well as finance products.

Joost Loebler, chief commercial officer for Prime Fund Solutions, said Donnelly’s appointment would “strengthen” the bank’s position in the European alternative investment industry.

“Mr Donnelly will be a valuable addition to growing success of Prime Fund Solutions,” he said.

“In addition to being a leading global bank, Prime Fund Solutions has extensive experience with offshore activities,” Fortis said in a statement.

Last month Fortis opened a subsidiary in Milan to boost its presence in the European ‘prime fund solutions’ market and named BNP Paribas’s Massimo Talia as managing director.

Fortis is going to make four more appointments in the next two and a half months, said Clayton Heijman, chief commercial officer at Fortis' Information Banking.

Heijman declined to elaborate further but said "someone from the Dublin market" would be involved with relationship management.