People moves: AllianzGI picks new leads for private and public teams

Allianz Global Investors – The asset management firm has made appointments to its private and public markets teams.

It has named Edouard Jozan,  currently  head of distribution for Europe, as head of AllianzGI private markets. He will assume his new role on 1 June and will also join AllianzGI’s executive committee.

Jozan will oversee both the investment capabilities, which are led by Marta Perez and Sebastian Schroff, as well as the operational aspects of private markets, creating a distinct business area for private markets within AllianzGI.

AllianzGI manages €98bn in private markets, including a market-leading global infrastructure franchise covering both equity and debt as well as a private credit offering that covers both direct and indirect lending.

Jozan joined AllianzGI in 2020 and has been head of distribution for Europe  since 1 January 2023. He has more than 25 years of investment experience, having started his career with Allianz entities in Germany, France, the UK and the US in various investment management and client-facing functions.

Michael Krautzberger will become CIO of public markets and a member of the AllianzGI executive committee.

Krautzberger, currently global CIO for fixed income, will take on his additional responsibilities for the firm’s €475bn public markets platform from 1 June 2025. The appointment is part of the succession plan for Deborah Zurkow, global head of investments, who will retire later this year.

Additional promotions of experienced investors within AllianzGI’s equity and fixed income divisions will further bolster the leadership team in AllianzGI’s public markets business, which also includes a multi-asset franchise and risklab investment advisory offering.

In light of Krautzberger’s broadening responsibilities, Jenny Zeng, currently CIO fixed income Asia-Pacific, will become CIO fixed income from 1 January 2026. To ensure a smooth journey, Zeng will take on the additional role of deputy head of the fixed-income platform with immediate effect.

In equities, Michael Heldmann will become CIO equity on 1 October 2025, succeeding Virginie Maisonneuve, who has decided to leave AllianzGI at the end of December 2025.

Maisonneuve and Heldmann have already been working closely, which will ensure a seamless transition. As part of that long-term succession planning, Heldmann will become deputy CIO equity with immediate effect alongside his existing responsibilities as CIO systematic equity.

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)  – The UK’s HM Treasury has reappointed Nikhil Rathi  as CEO of the FCA for a second term.  

Since Rathi joined in October 2020, the FCA has undertaken reforms to strengthen the UK’s position in wholesale markets, including the biggest changes to the listing regime in over three decades. 

Rathi said: “I am honoured to be reappointed by the Chancellor. The FCA does vital work to enable a fair and thriving financial services sector for the good of consumers and the economy. I am proud of the reforms we have delivered to support growth, bolster operational effectiveness, set higher standards and to keep our markets clean and open.”

AP Pension  – Niels Dengsø Jensen  is stepping down as chair of AP Pension after 12 years of leading the board of the Danish commercial pension provider. He has resigned in connection with his decision to leave his position as chair of Danish farmer-owned cooperative DLG Group – the food, services and energy firm he has been representing on the AP Pension board.

Dengsø Jensen said in an announcement on Tuesday that he was quitting his DLG Group role because he needed to slow down for health reasons.

At AP Pension’s annual general meeting yesterday, it was decided that board member Martin Nørholm Baltser  – CEO of Middelfart Sparekasse – would take over as chair, with Lasse Nyby  continuing as deputy chair.

Aon MasterTrust  – Paul Macro is joining the board of the Aon MasterTrust. He replaces Jonathan Reynolds who is stepping down from the board after six years.

Macro brings considerable defined contribution (DC) and master trust experience to the Aon MasterTrust, gained in a 35-year career that has included leading teams at the major consulting firms, managing his own business and working as an independent trustee and adviser for all types of DC pension schemes.

The other current members of the Aon MasterTrust board are the chair, Kim Nash of ZEDRA Governance, Jenny Davidson of BESTrustees and Keith Scott of Law Debenture Pension Trustees.

Separately, the consultancy has appointed the former deputy chair of the Bayer Pensionskasse, Claudia Picker, as a member of the management team for its human capital division based in Mülheim, Germany, effective 1 July.

Picker, an expert in the field of occupational pensions, has spent most of her career at Bayer, most recently as a deputy chair of the management board of the Bayer Pensionskasse, the Rheinische Pensionskasse, and the Bayer Pension Trust. She also serves as deputy chair of the German occupational pension association aba.

PKH  – Oddvar Frigstad  has been appointed as the new chief investment officer of PKH, the Norwegian pension fund for health enterprises in the Oslo region. He will replace Pål Ringholm, who is starting a new job on 1 May as CIO of Nordic wealth management firm Formue.

Frigstad was chief executive officer of Skeie Capital Investment for 15 years until June 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he was a senior fund manager at Storebrand.

Nomura Asset Management – The core company within the investment management division of Nomura Group has appointed Douglas Stewart as head of distribution EMEA. He will report to Kenichi Suzuki, senior managing director, head of global business unit and will be based in London.

In this role, Stewart will lead the firm’s distribution strategy across EMEA and Latin America – driving growth, strengthening client engagement, and overseeing coverage of institutional and intermediary channels.

Stewart, most recently, served as managing director in the Global Strategy Group at Silicon Valley Bank, where he held a senior leadership role focused on international business strategy and key growth initiatives. Prior to that, he was CEO of BennBridge, leading the firm’s European expansion and the strategic development of its multi-boutique model.

Edmond de Rothschild – Eric de Tessières  has been appointed as group chief sustainability officer. Reporting to Cynthia Tobiano, deputy CEO, de Tessières will oversee all of the group’s sustainability initiatives, across asset management and private banking.

He will be responsible for driving and monitoring the firm’s sustainability strategy in its investment platforms and products. De Tessières will also represent the group’s sustainable development initiatives externally and internally, supported by specialists, based between Paris and Geneva and a network of ambassadors in each asset class.

Edmond de Rothschild has been a committed player in sustainable investing for more than 20 years and 50% of its assets under management are classified as Article 8 or 9 according to SFDR guidelines.

De Tessières has nearly 20 years of experience in the banking industry and sustainable investing, most recently as chief operating officer of the Sustainability Centre and head of solidarity investments at BNP Paribas Asset Management.

The People’s Pension  – The UK commercial master trust announced that its chair of trustees, Mark Condron, will remain in post for a further five years.

The announcement of his new five-year term follows three years at the helm of the board of trustees, which he first joined in 2020. In Condron’s time as chair, The People’s Pension has become one of the country’s fastest-growing asset owners and is projected to have reached £60bn in assets under management by the end of 2030.

Condron’s reappointment comes at a pivotal time for workplace pension schemes, which includes the UK government’s focus on encouraging pension funds to invest in private markets, including in the UK, and the impending introduction of value-for-money metrics.

Invesco  – Carl-Otto Ardermark  has been appointed as senior sales manager at Invesco EMEA, based in Stockholm. He started the job in March.

Ardermark was previously vice-president, relationship manager, at BlackRock in Copenhagen. Invesco said the appointment was an expansion of its Nordic operations.

SEI  – Oliver Gin has been hired as a client strategy director on SEI’s UK fiduciary management team.

Gin will be responsible for building and deepening relationships with DB pension scheme clients to help strengthen and grow SEI’s Institutional business.

With more than 20 years of experience in the pensions industry, Gin brings substantial client relationship management, proposition development, and technical expertise to SEI. He most recently worked in the fiduciary management business at Schroders and previously worked in the investment businesses at Aon and Willis Towers Watson, formerly known as Watson Wyatt.

Versorgungswerk der Zahnärztekammer Berlin (VZB)  – The pension fund for dentists in Berlin has appointed Thomas Schieritz as the new chair of its management committee. Schieritz succeeds Ingo Rellermeier, who was dismissed during the fund’s general meeting on 5 April.

VZB has also appointed Sigrid Seifer as a new member of the management committee. Seifer succeeds Lutz-Stephan Weiß, following his resignation.

The management committee reshuffle follows the decision to fire the fund’s director because of controversial and risky investments that could lead to losses.

Richter Pharma Pension Fund  – Csaba Nagy announced on a LinkedIn post that he is starting a new position as managing director at Richter Pharma Pension Fund.

“After 22 years, last week in Sofia I offered my resignation from the board of Pension Insurance Company DSK-Rodina. It was a fantastic journey,” he said in the post.

“Bulgaria started the second pillar pension system in 2002 and after some successful years and some turbulence it became one of the first among CEE countries to introduce the payout phase in 2021. It was a significant milestone in the history of the second pillar system. After starting to pay pension benefits to the members, it became a useful element of the social security system,” he explained.

“But the future looks even more interesting, full of challenges: switching to euro, then moving toward the introduction of multifunds. I am sure that with the help of multiporfolios, the second pillar system will provide more adequate and sustainable pension benefits to Bulgarian citizens,” Nagy added.

Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) – Thomas Christiansen  has been appointed as head of emerging market fixed income. Based in the London office, he rejoins UBP as a senior managing director, bringing a wealth of experience in sovereign debt and emerging market investments.

Christiansen returns to UBP after two and a half years at a specialist emerging markets investment manager Ashmore, where he managed sovereign debt portfolios and chaired the investment committee for the firm’s multi-sector emerging market debt mandates.

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