GLOBAL - Watson Wyatt, PGGM Investments, Syntrus Achmea Vastgeod, Strategeon Investment Consulting, Finansinspektionen, Equitable Life, Redington Partners, UBS, Northern Trust, HSBC Actuaries & Consultants, Nordea, Jupiter, Hymans Robertson, OMAM, Swift, Gartmore, AMB, Cordea Savills.

Watson Wyatt - Nicholas Smith has been chosen to lead the firm's defined contribution (DC) investment team. He was previously executive director at Schroder Investment Management, but joined Watson Wyatt's London office earlier this week.

PGGM Investments - Gert van Dijk has been appointed president of the asset manager's cooperative member council for a four-year term, following a recommendation from the cooperative governing board.

Syntrus Achmea Vastgoed - Francis van Bergenhenegouwen has been named as director of investor relations at the real estate division of Syntrus Achmea. She was previously head of commercial affairs at Blue Sky Group as well as institutional sales manager at Delta Lloyd and Robeco. She will now look after the acquisition of new clients and portfolio management at the firm.

Strategeon Investment Consultancy BV - Pierre Voncken has been appointed as adviser and will counsel Dutch pension funds on their strategic investment policy, the selection of their asset managers and on the macro-economic outlook.  Voncken, who has worked with ABP and PTT Pensioen, will also become a member of the investment committee.

Finansinspektionen (FI) - Per Håkansson has been appointed the new head lawyer at the Swedish financial supervisory authority (FI). Håkansson is currently head lawyer at the Premium Pension Authority (PPM) in Sweden and will assume his new role sometime this spring. Lars Frisell, assistant manager in the department of financial stability at Sweden's National Bank, has been appointed chief economist at FI.

Equitable Life - Charles Thomson has decided to step down from his position as chief executive and leave Equitable Life in the autumn, after haring that the running of the business would change drastically. Thomson will arrange a third-party agreement for the management of Equitable Life policies while the Board recruits a new executive.

Redington Partners - Jonathan Taylor-Cummings has been appointed chief operating officer (COO) to implement systems and processes to help develop the business. Taylor-Cummings joined from Merrill Lynch, where he was director  of the Institutional Client Coverage Group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

UBS AG - Peter Kurer, chairman of the UBS Board of Directors, has decided not to stand for re-election at the Board's Annual General Meeting on April 15 2009. Kaspar Villiger, former Swiss finance minister, has been nominated for chairman of the UBS Board of Directors.

Northern Trust - Dan Houlihan has been named global head of product and strategy for the Investment Operations Outsourcing (IOO) business. Houlihan, formerly president of Citisoft in the US, will be responsible for continuing to develop the firm's global investment management business.

HSBC Actuaries and Consultants (HACL) - Simon Binney has been appointed divisional director of employee benefits and will develop flexible benefits solutions in the actuarial and consulting practice. Binney was previously business development director and head of consulting for Motivano, a flexible benefits consultancy.

Nordea - Jukka Perttula has been named head of private banking in Finland and will assume the role in April. Perttula has been working as head of marketing at Nordea for the last three years and will use his marketing skills to develop the firm's private banking services.

Jupiter Asset Management - Patrick Harrington will replace Edward Bonham-Carter as manager of the £122m (€137m) Jupiter Undervalued Assets Fund at the end of March 2009. Harrington, who joined the firm last month, previously worked as an investment manager at OLIM Ltd as part of the UK equity team.

Hymans Robertson - Hymans Robertson has appointed five new partners across its investment practice and longevity risk team to deal with increasing demands on investment strategy, quantitative modelling and manager selection. Stephen Birch, David Boyd, Nick Forrester and Clare Gardner have been made partners of the investment practice and Steven Baxter partner of the longevity risk team.

Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM) - Ji Young Park has been appointed analyst of OMAM's Asia equities team. Ji joins from Legg Mason International Equities, where she was responsible for researching market consumer stocks.

SWIFT - Patrick Curtin has been appointed head of securities initiatives for the Americas and will be responsible for expanding the securities business in the region and collaborating with clients on securities-related projects. Curtin, previously executive vice president of global security services at The Bank of New York Mellon, will report to Chris Church, chief executive of the Americas and global head of securities.

Gartmore - Nigel Davies has been named supporting manager and analyst on the AlphaGen EtaCas Fund Limited. Davies joined in February from Exista UK, where he was director of research. Davies will provide fund management support and generate investment ideas for the fund, focusing particularly on global consumer stocks.

AMB Property Europe - Anthony Biddulph has been appointed senior vice president of business in Europe and the Middle East. Based in London, Biddulph will be responsible for raising capital for AMB's private capital funds globally.  He joined from Blackrock, where he was director and head of the European and Middle Eastern client account management group.

Cordea Savills - Michael Flynn has been named global head of institutional business and will be responsible for the client services and capital raising worldwide. Flynn, previously head of Cordea Savills' Singapore office was chosen for the new role in a bid to centralise and improve the firm's services.

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Poppy Sketchley on + 44 (0)20 7261 4629 or email poppy.sketchley@ipe.com

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