This week’s overview of transfers, appointments, promotions and other people news includes updates from Universal Investment, Gen II Fund Services, Deloitte and JP Morgan.
Stephen Bird
Stephen Bird (photo) has agreed to step down as CEO at UK asset manager Abrdn, the firm has announced, after a tumultuous four-year tenure marked by significant client cash outflows and a controversial rebranding effort. The company’s board and Bird mutually agreed that it was the “right time to hand over the reins.” Finance chief Jason Windsor will serve as interim CEO while the search for a permanent replacement begins.
This leadership change is likely to renew investor calls for the company to be broken up. Questions have also been raised about Aberdeen’s viability as a standalone business. The company has faced ongoing challenges, including significant cash withdrawals by clients, which culminated in its removal from Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index last year. Bird’s efforts to revive the business included job cuts, streamlining its fund offerings, and expanding into the mass-market investing sector through the 2022 acquisition of the online platform Interactive Investor.
Aberdeen garnered attention in 2021 following a widely criticized rebranding that saw it change its name from Standard Life Aberdeen to the vowel-less abrdn. RBC analysts told Reuters that the leadership change provides an opportunity for a fresh strategic approach to move Aberdeen forward.
Aberdeen confirmed that Bird will commence a 12-month notice period and is considered a “good leaver” under his contract terms. This entitles him to his regular salary and unvested bonuses.
John Burns
John Burns has been named chief technology officer at Universal Investment Group. He will take on the newly created role on 1 June and will be responsible for leading the group’s technology strategy, driving innovation, and enhancing its future-proof platform.
Burns joins Universal Investment from DWS Group, where he most recently served as Global Head of Technology and Operations. In this role, he was instrumental in executing the company’s transformative technology strategy, with a strong focus on business alignment and cloud-based solutions to boost performance. Prior to this, John was global chief technology officer at Pioneer Investments. During his tenure, he was responsible for designing and spearheading business-enabling technology initiatives, while integrating teams and implementing IT solutions globally. John holds a bachelor’s degree and a PhD in chemistry from the University College of Dublin.
He will also serve as a member of the executive board. With nearly three decades of experience in digital innovation and integrated technology, he is widely recognised for his strategic leadership at the intersection of technology and the fund industry.
Kevin d’Antonio
Kevin d’Antonio has joined PwC’s strategy consulting business, Strategy&, as new managing director. D’Antonio has close to 15 years of experience in both strategy consulting and executive roles within a private equity backed European industrial business.
Strategy& offers strategic consulting services to both local and international clients. Their expertise spans business and growth strategy, business model reinvention and transformation, deal strategy, commercial due diligence, value creation, market intelligence services, and sustainable finance and ESG advice.
Alex Le Quesne
Alex Le Quesne has been appointed to the role of head of real assets – Europe, following the firm’s acquisition of Crestbridge last month. In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing client service and the development of Gen II’s real assets service offering across its European jurisdictions.
Le Quesne has over 19 years’ industry experience. Before joining Gen II he was head of governance services at Crestbridge and before that he led and developed the business’s highly successful real asset funds team.
He has also been a director of a corporate trustee which acted for both regulated and unregulated property unit trusts, holding over 10 billion pounds assets in total. Previously, he was employed by HSBC.
Alexander Mayer
Alexander Mayer has been appointed as the new head of JP Morgan’ German and Austrian business, the U.S. investment bank has said. Mayer previously spent 24 years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as head of investment banking for Germany and Austria.
He will join JP Morgan’s Frankfurt office, which is the headquarters for its European business, later this year.
Hüseyin Özhan and Zsuzsanna Hargitai
Hüseyin Özhan has been named as managing director for Central Asia at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He is succeeding Zsuzsanna Hargitai, who has been appointed managing director, SME finance and development at the EBRD’s headquarters in London.
A Turkish national, Özhan will assume his new role on 1 June 2024 and will continue to be based in Almaty. He will oversee the Bank’s operations in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. He will also continue working in his current capacity of EBRD Director for Kazakhstan, where he is managing the Bank’s largest and longest-running banking operation in Central Asia.
Deloitte Luxembourg
Deloitte Luxembourg has promoted 11 professionals to the roles of partner and managing director. The latest cohort increases the total number of partners and managing directors at the firm to 168, in a partnership that oversees a team of more than 2,700 professionals.
Ajda Alev, Christophe Felice, Iva Gyurova, Marcell Köves, Jaime Millan, Tomas Papousek, Elena Petrova, Marion Rory, Jonathan Streicher, and Maxime Verac were named partners. The firm has appointed Julie André as new managing director.
Investment Officer publishes an overview of key industry and Luxembourg appointments every Thursday. Please share your announcement via email to editor@investmentofficer.lu.