EUROPE - Peter Lindqvist, a director at Citigroup Asset Management, has joined Threadneedle Investments as head of strategic alliances.

“In his new position Lindqvist will take responsibility for the relationships with American Express and Zurich,” Threadneedle said.

“Lindqvist will also look after relationships with global financial institutions working closely with Christian Pellis, head of European distribution.”

It said Lindqvist has worked at Barings and that his most recent role was as head of the European institutional business at Citigroup Asset Management – though Citigroup denied this.

Threadneedle’s head of distribution, David Gasparro, said: “Peter’s appointment is key to our long-term plans to broaden our client base.

“We would like to deepen our relationships with the global financial institutions to position ourselves as a core provider of investment products.”

“This is a very exciting time to be joining Threadneedle,” Lindqvist said. “There is a feeling of great momentum in the business and a genuine ambition to widen the distribution reach further outside of the UK.”

“Fund distribution in Europe is now entering a new stage as the growth delivered by the onset of open architecture begins to subside.

“Major third-party distributors are paring down the numbers of fund providers on their books. Threadneedle has got everything it takes to form a key member of this selected ‘pool of excellence’. A big part of my role here will be to ensure that this happens.”