GLOBAL - Mercer, Fidelity Investments, Oddo Asset Management, Independent Trustee Services, Baillie Gifford, Pramerica

Mercer - Gail Philippart has been appointed as a principal in the consultancy’s retirement business, specialising in DC advice. Based in the Bristol office, Philippart will be a member of the UK DC leadership team and be responsible for managing consulting in the South West and Midlands. She joins from Aon Hewitt, where she worked as a principal consultant in the DC team.

Fidelity Investments - Mark Flaherty has been promoted to the newly created position of UK fixed income CIO. He has been with the company for 12 years. Flaherty will oversee the business management and administration of all investment management-related activities for Fidelity and Pyramis’s London-based fixed income investment team. Prior to his new role, he served as managing director of research for municipals, a group he headed since 2005.

Oddo Asset Management - Nicolas Chaput has been appointed chief executive and managing director, succeeding Guido Mundt. He has also been appointed to the group’s executive committee. He joins from BNP Paribas Asset Management, where he has been CIO of fixed income and money markets since 2008. Before joining BNPP AM in 2005, he worked for 15 years at Calyon in Paris, London and New York.

Independent Trustee Services - Esther White has been appointed the company’s eighth client-facing director. Previously a pensions partner at Eversheds, White joins from HR Trustees. She also chairs the pensions committee at the Association of Corporate Trustees.

Baillie Gifford - The asset manager will appoint five new partners - Larysa Bemko, Tim Campbell, Angus Franklin, Kave Sigaroudinia and Tom Slater - on 1 May, taking the total number of partners to 37. The firm is wholly owned and managed by its partners, all of whom work full time in the business.

Pramerica - Philip Vlieghe has joined the fixed income client relations team. He will be responsible for institutional client relations with Pramerica’s team in London. He joins from Vanguard Investments Europe, where he was head of institutional sales and relationship management.

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