UK – State Street Global Advisors has named foreign exchange head Paul Duncombe as managing director of its UK business, taking the role vacated by Nigel Wightman in March.

Duncombe will report to international head Mark Lazberger and Europe head Jean-Francois Schock. He joined SSGA in 1995 from PanAgora Asset Management.

The move follows the surprise resignations of Wightman and chief investment officer Alan Brown in March. Tony Spence will take over as global head of currency management.

“Paul’s invaluable expertise gained through his role as our long-standing deputy managing director in the UK made him the ideal candidate for the position,” Lazberger said.

Duncombe last hit the headlines in February when he told IPE that large continental European pension schemes with currency mandates are in effect acting like hedge funds in the foreign exchange market.

Brown left after he was passed over for the top job at SSGA. In January, the bank named 42-year-old William Hunt as chief executive of SSGA after the death of Timothy Harbert last year.

Meanwhile, State Street says it recently opened a new office in Zurich called the State Street Financial Center in Zurich.

"State Street is committed to Switzerland for the long term," said chairman and president Ronald Logue, who hosted the opening.

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