People moves: UBS Asset Management names investments co-heads

UBS Asset Management – The firm has named Barry Gill and Sonja Laud as co-heads of its investments business, which brings together its direct public and private markets capabilities with over $1.8trn in combined invested assets.

Laud will join on 1 July 2026, based in London, and become a member of the asset management team reporting to Aleksandar Ivanovic, president for asset management. She will also be appointed head of asset management EMEA, reporting additionally to Beatriz Martin in her capacity as president UBS EMEA.

Laud was most recently global chief investment officer at Legal & General Investment Management, where she was responsible for all investment and stewardship activities across the active and index capabilities. She is currently the chair of the UK’s Investment Association’s investment committee.

Through her 24-year career, Laud has held a range of senior investment roles, including managing flagship global equity and multi-asset capabilities at Fidelity International, Barings and Schroders, and started her career at DWS.

Gill has worked at UBS for 30 years. He has been a member of the asset management team since 2019, with responsibility for its traditional and hedge fund Investment capabilities, based in New York. He joined UBS AM in 2012 and was appointed head of active equities in 2016.

Gill started his career at UBS Investment Bank as a graduate trainee in 1995.

International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM) – The firm has appointed two new board members: León Fernández de Castro from AFP Habitat in Chile, and Geraldine Leegwater from PGGM in the Netherlands. Both will begin their three-year terms on 1 January 2026.

Fernández de Castro has been the planning and development officer of AFP Habitat, the largest pension fund in Chile, for the last nine years, responsible for its strategy, sustainability, public and political affairs, pension system education, and studies for pension reforms. In addition, he was chair of the board of AFP Colfondos for four years, a pension fund manager in Colombia, a subsidiary of Habitat Group.

Leegwater is currently the chief executive officer of PGGM Investment Management. Previously, she was chief investment management and member of the executive committee of PGGM. Prior to this, she was a member of the board of trustees and chair of the investment committee of ABP.

The duo replaces Thomas Lee, of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, and Jeroen de Munnik, of PGGM. Lee and de Munnik have been dedicated and active board members for the past several years, both serving on numerous committees. ICPM said their contributions have been instrumental in strengthening the network and setting ICPM in the right direction for its third decade as an organisation.

State Street Investment Management – The firm has announced two key senior appointments aimed at strengthening its global leadership and client engagement capabilities.

Matteo Andreetto has been named global head of Nextgen business development and digital wealth, executive vice president (EVP). He will report to Anna Paglia, chief business officer. In this newly created role, Andreetto will spearhead collaborative efforts to expand State Street IM’s global reach through innovative distribution partnerships, NextGen digital wealth efforts, and its ETF-as-a-Service offering.

Andreetto assumes this new role having developed this initiative, forged partnerships with digital wealth managers and brokers, and having led State Street IM’s European intermediary business.

Marie-Anne Heeren has been appointed head of client coverage group Europe, EVP, overseeing all client-facing teams across Europe. Based in Brussels, Heeren will continue reporting to Ann Prendergast, head of EMEA. Her focus will be on continuing to deliver exceptional service to institutional and intermediary clients, fostering collaboration, and addressing evolving client needs.

Heeren brings extensive experience from her five-year tenure leading State Street IM’s European institutional business, which has seen strong momentum driven in part by structural trends such as pension consolidation, intermediary growth, and continuing client demand in Europe for sustainable investment solutions.

Brightwell – The service provider for UK defined benefit (DB) pension schemes has appointed James Pearson in a newly created role as head of member services operations.

Pearson has over 20 years of experience in pensions operations, project management, implementation, and business change. He joins from Capita where he worked for over 17 years in a variety of roles, including serving as director of pensions operations and business change.

At Brightwell, Pearson will be responsible for all day-to-day administration operations, including finance and payroll, planning, reporting, data management and insight and service operations across all clients.