The majority of analytics vendors entered the market as specialists in a particular asset class. Over the years, this has gradually transformed to vendors supporting multiple asset classes at a granular level. As these firms have been enhancing their other offerings, I believe there has been more standardisation in the market where users are starting to consolidate some their analytics providers.

The optimal scenario in my opinion, would be using one vendor for all analytics requirements; however, I personally cannot see this occurring in the short/medium term for many firms. Contractual obligations, EMS links and wider business use of platforms, are some of the reasons why standardising is not as easy as it sounds.

Which technologies are most impactful currently in the multi-asset trading and data landscape?

Along with the standard OMS/EMS’ functionalities, the ability for these systems to incorporate granular analytics which aide the desk, are real differentiators. Being able to click on a live order and immediately viewing a breadth of information, is something which is valued heavily by analytics teams and traders.

API capabilities via platforms is an area that continues to grow in popularity, whether it’s through TCA/analytics products or market data portals. This type of offering allows users to amalgamate data internally and utilise for various onward processes such as model inputs or internal TCA measurements.

Lastly, I believe enhanced offerings in the high touch crossing space on the trading desks is something which traders value highly. Crossing opportunities for larger order sizes have always been popular in the market to reduce market impact and implicit transaction costs, however this has become essential given the liquidity challenges in the European markets. There are several providers in this space who are improving their functionality and portals to streamline the search for natural liquidity.  

How are traders and data teams working to evolve TCA?

TCA is an ever-evolving subject matter which means traders and analytics teams must adapt or be left behind their industry peers.

As APIs have grown in popularity over the years, one of the main advantages has been seamless access to TCA measurements, market data, trading data and vendor models. Vendor TCA portals and accessing their APIs, provide an abundant source of information which can be used in several different ways to inevitably reduce transaction costs. Quantitative methods can be applied to the datasets to provide statistically significant conclusions, which can then be dispensed across the business to relevant teams.

It’s extremely important that the trading desks are also in tune with the analytics to ensure efficient onwards processes like liaising with brokers on their trading performance. Market conditions in all aspects of trading analytics are vital to normalise results and safeguard against judging the sell-side on minimal information e.g., broker A shows reversion post order execution but was the stock/index interval momentum in the same direction during and after the order?

Drilling deeper into brokers’ venue choices has also become imperative to analyse on the buy-side. The ability to scrutinise venue performance, such as toxicity, avg. fill sizes, and spread captures amongst others, has strengthened the relationship between both sides of the market.

Can the use of TCA in fixed income mirror equities?

Fixed income markets are fundamentally opaque and price transparency is a big issue for TCA. How do you effectively measure an order in a high yield bond which has only traded once in the last few weeks? Best execution regulation promotes measurement of all asset classes, irrespective of liquidity. Several TCA vendors are adapting their approach to measurement by creating proprietary pricing models which pull in various data sources such as ticks, quotes, liquidity scores and platform data, as well as creating yield curves to battle the price transparency difficulties.

Traditional equity benchmarks like IS and IVWAP are generally not relevant for voice traded fixed income securities, given the difficulty in capturing timestamps accurately, however, it’s possible to utilise with any electronic flow where this information is readily available. Use of relative benchmarks are becoming more popular, such as execution vs. far touch to represent spread capture, as well as accessing pre-trade cost estimates for performance comparisons.

Another way that fixed income TCA would differ from equities would be the analysis of spread to the bond benchmark at arrival vs. execution time. This would allow relative measurement over the order duration which can then be compared to absolute arrival results.

There are many commonalities between TCA for different asset classes, however distinctions will always exist in the methodology to account for specific nuances.

The post Fireside Friday with… Aviva Investors’ Ash Sharma appeared first on The TRADE.

In an industry where change is widely inevitable, the relationship between the two appears to be irrevocably evolving.

Market structure changes, regulatory pressure, ever-increasing technological innovations, and data challenges are all key contributors to firms’ need to continually revise and reflect on their approaches. 

Across the trading ecosystem, it is becoming clear that in order to be successful and achieve goals, an ever-more holistic approach is vital, including when it comes to the way in which traders and portfolio managers work together.

Speaking generally, head of trading for the London-based fixed income trading desk at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, Stuart Campbell, asserts: “Anywhere where the product is less homogenised, less commoditised, less liquid is the kind of space you would expect that the relationship needs to be quite tight between the PM and the trader.

“It comes down to how individuals are utilising the extra information. Who’s using that data, is it traders using it to help them form their portfolio managers’ portfolios or the other way around? It depends on how the shop is set up as to what, how, and who is using the data and what they’re doing with it.”

Office set-ups

In the past it may have been more common to see a clear distinction between a buy-side firms’ portfolio management teams and trading desks where the two groups were relatively segregated. However, current set ups indicate a change over recent times, wherein a coming together of the two sides has occurred on a tangible level. 

Speaking to The TRADE, Tobias Stein, head of fixed income and trading at Quoniam Asset Management, confirms that currently his team’s set-up at Quoniam has PM’s and traders working in close quarters, constantly talking as the investment manager has them based in the same room.

He explains that though relationships between the two sides are different across asset classes, on the fixed income side, there is a very long history of collaborating closely together.

“Specifically, some 10 or 15 years ago there was a lot of portfolio managers actually trading by themselves but eventually the separation of roles made sense, but now the two sides are coming closer together as they work towards a common goal.

“[…] The increase in trading frequency of course will require more frequent interaction between traders and portfolio managers. This is where we see that shift back to a more centralised process – where previously they were further apart, now the two sides have come back to close quarters.”

Similarly, a source from Aviva Investors confirms that portfolio managers and traders at the firm also work in close proximity, with the knock-on effect of the Covid-19 pandemic working as a clear catalyst for increasingly hybrid and flexible set-ups.

“We all sit close together in one area, which is great for collaboration. Anyone could just walk over to someone’s desk and discuss something or ask some questions […] In addition, having a set number of days in the office where everyone comes together also definitely helps. A hybrid approach with room for close contact where possible.”

Read more: Pioneering a hybrid organisational structure 

Moreover, RBC BlueBay Asset Management’s set-up also mirrors this approach. Campbell highlights that the firm has made a conscious decision to have traders and portfolio managers sat on the same part of the floor as part of its key strategy.

“We’re really looking to get more out of our traders, to have them think like a portfolio manager is how we’ve always been set up here. We’ve always said in order to get the most benefit out of the trading team, they have to be thinking like a portfolio manager. We’ve said that for many years now – they need to know what’s in the portfolio, they need to know what the targets are for the bonds that we might hold, are they getting close to the targets.

“In some instances, we’ve had our traders sat right beside the lead PM of the strategy and they worked in tandem.”

Demonstrably, the buy-side has been adjusting and recognising how PMs’ and traders’ increased interconnectedness can be leveraged to enhance execution.

Technology as a catalyst for change

Each buy-side firm has a different strategy and thus by definition has a distinct operational set-up, with unique focal points and ways of working. However, the common denominator amongst them when it comes to their approach is clear to see – the desire to ensure efficacy through increased electronic trading and data, while maintaining low costs.

When it comes to the potentially converging roles of portfolio managers and traders this is key. As innovations gain traction, lower value trades are becoming easier – and quicker – to execute. We are not yet in a place to consider a pie in the sky future where the trading desk is skipped altogether, however there are some interesting shifts happening. 

Despite some real fear across those operating in the capital markets – there is understandable trepidation when it comes to what the integration of ever-more sophisticated systems could entail – the prevailing notion is that technology developments are tangibly allowing trading desks to spend more time on the less liquid and harder to trade elements.

Read more – The buy-side on AI: ‘The fear is real, but the rewards are there’

In the end, tech is a facilitator to the means of working changing, confirms Stein, who adds that the key to the process in fixed income is exactly the close collaboration between tech, trading and portfolio managers.

He highlights that in fixed income historically, PMs were also trading as well, specifically in the more illiquid segments of the market. 

However, as he explains: “Alpha is the number one thing in terms of active strategies and execution, but tackling the liquidity challenges is the second biggest thing, and this is only addressed by each side collaborating.”

As well as internally making the most of what both teams have to offer, the ever-present outsourcing conversation is also relevant here, where firms continue to look for ways to allow their expert in house traders to make the most of their time and focus on only the highest value trades.

Recently, Groupama Asset Management entered a strategic partnership with Amundi Intermediation in which the firm combined its team of traders with Amundi’s offering in a bid to optimise its performance through improved access to a wider range of activity with increased negotiating power. 

Notably, Amundi Intermediation’s international teams – which consist of over 60 staff – includes asset allocation services, specifically portfolio management.

Speaking in the May announcement, Eric Heleine, head of the buy-side trading desk at Groupama Asset Management, explained that the combination was precisely a direct result of ever-increasing technological developments across the industry: “With Amundi Intermediation, we share the conviction that execution is changing radically with rapid and global digitalisation.” 

Read more: Fireside Friday with… Groupama Asset Management’s Eric Heleine 

The roles PMs and traders play is directly affected by which direction technological updates are taking, but how far could this go?

Campbell highlights that from the perspective of RBC BlueBay AM, a so-called crossover between traditional and hedge fund, when it comes to the credit markets the increased amount of pre-trade data which is now available makes it “far more palatable” for a trader or portfolio manager to make the decision on how to handle flow.

He adds: “Nowadays, you react to live axes in the market and say ‘I want that’ and take it, rather than go and seek the bonds in the first place. Previously this was the role of the trader, but nowadays a portfolio manager can get such good live data coming in that it could be the role of the portfolio manager themselves. 

“[…] in algorithmic pricing auto execution there is the ability to maybe allow very low value add trades that the trader spends time clicking, but really not generating much value from, to flow straight through.” 

In this instance, a PM is theoretically creating an order which subsequently passes through established rules, enters the market and then returns without having even seen the trading desk. 

Speaking to The TRADE in 2022, Christoph Hock, then head of trading at Union Investment highlighted that the asset manager was undergoing an evolution, becoming one unified multi-asset trading desk in a bid to execute a bigger percentage of orders sent by portfolio managers. 

“Take a protocol like portfolio trading. That was just one way of trading equities five-to-10 years ago and now it’s widely accepted in fixed income […] that’s something you are missing when you do not holistically look at trading and assure that the individual asset class-based traders are talking to each other,” asserted Hock.

Notably, these methods are more likely to be the case for buy-side houses which opt for smaller teams, where the overlap of duties is already more prevalent.

Speaking to The TRADE, a source from Aviva Investors confirms that their own firm is a very traditional buy-side house where the PM’s and the traders have specific, distinct roles, and as such one “couldn’t really see in the near future a world where the PMs would access the market directly”. 

“For the bigger institutions it’s very separated because there’s different responsibilities, and different skill sets.”

Wearing many hats

With the idea of individual skill sets in mind, many across the industry are of the opinion that while certain attributes, and indeed certain tasks, are exclusive to either PMs or traders, this does not necessarily mean that either side is not increasingly wearing different hats (be it by choice or necessity) or even that the tasks they do are not overlapping.

A buy-side source tells The TRADE that within their firm, “a lot of the PMs are now engaged in the analytics a lot more, which is great to see.”

They add: “That really helps because if they’re engaged in the analytics, they can use the data to adjust their strategies […] PMs are out and about a bit more now. They’re seeing more of their clients. As they’re out of the office a lot more the desk and people on the analytics side have taken on a bit more responsibility.”

The idea of using key data to adjust strategies is a key component of how many houses are looking to innovate, with various industry discussions having focused on exactly this over the last calendar year.

Many experts are adamant that a desk should be imbued with a data-driven approach, as long as there is the ability to interpret the information at hand – bridging the gap is important.

Clearly, firms are taking note. As Campbell highlights, “the new skill set coming about in recent years has been the ability to code or analyse data where historically it might have been about relationships […] it’s becoming important not to lose sight of the technological needs.”

On the other hand, Campbell adds that the people skills of the trader should not be sacrificed in the pursuit of this.

“The trader still needs to be on that relationship side, bringing liquidity because when it’s needed you’re hoping that they will pick the phone up to you and not the other two or three people that are also calling.

[…] When markets are volatile or there’s a major global event like Covid or Ukraine everything stops and you revert back to your old school relationship.” 

Read more: “They’re the perfect trader”

Indeed, it’s important to remember that the size of firms and their established focus is a very big factor in terms of how trading teams and portfolio managers interact, wherein being a jack of all trades could be both less attractive and less necessary.

“I get both sides of this argument, where people obviously think you should be specialised in your role and should just be focused on your responsibilities,” says a buy-side commentator, adding: “[…] In the smaller houses, you have to almost wear lots of different hats and be involved in different areas, whereas with the bigger houses it’s a bit more separated and people have their own responsibilities.” 

Evidently, the ability to have a good view of the market, established relationship with the sell-side, a handle on key analytics – i.e. straddle the line – is becoming increasingly valuable, in particular where teams, and indeed firms, are of a smaller scale.

“A small shop with just a couple of portfolio managers may be operating in the hedge fund spaces and they may be doing their own trades, in which case they’re acting as a PM central trader anyway. In those instances, they’re probably happy to see a lot of the heavy lifting is getting done for them by the technology. If you go to a big trading team of 30 or 40 traders then you would want to leverage those folks,” asserts Campbell.

Looking at the overall picture, for portfolio managers it is more difficult to spread responsibilities too widely, and so an increased scope could be better suited to traders. 

“From my perspective the end game would not be the roles being essentially the same. However, working together – the PMs and traders – on an end goal of increased systemic strategies is something that is in process,” concludes Stein. 

Across the trading ecosystem, technology continues to be a catalyst for change when it comes to both the role of the trader and the portfolio manager – whether this be as regards their physical set ups or the increasingly varied responsibilities being integrated into their everyday duties.

While each role has concrete elements, key traits and features which – for the time being at least – appear immovable, the pursuit of the most effective, holistic, approach is demonstrably having a firm-wide effect on buy-side PM/trader relations.

As we move forward, achieving success is set to increasingly be a question of how these teams can work together, as opposed to merely alongside each other to ensure the most efficient value chain possible.

The post Trader and PM relationships: A holistic approach is key to success appeared first on The TRADE.

RBC BlueBay Asset Management’s investment-grade credit trader, Christopher Lemmo, has left the firm to join Norges Bank Investment Management after almost 13 years at the fixed income focused asset manager. He has been appointed senior trader at Norges Bank Investment Management, based in New York. Lemmo joined RBC as an investment-grade credit trader in 2010 after previously spending nearly four and a half years at Vanguard in its analyst development programme and later as an investment-grade credit trader. Joining the US-based RBC BlueBay desk following Lemmo’s departure is Ben Romeo, who has been appointed senior trader after most recently serving at AXA Investment Managers for a decade.

Aviva’s global asset management business has appointed Jill Barber as global head of distribution, who is expected to join the firm later this year subject to regulatory approval. Barber will join Aviva Investors from GAM Investments, where she has served as global head of institutional solutions since November 2020. She brings 25 years’ experience in investment management to the firm, having held senior positions at Jupiter Asset Management, Franklin Templeton Investments, Hermes Fund Management and Fidelity International. Barber will succeed Louisa Kay, who is set to retire at the end of this year following three decades in the investment industry. Kay will continue to lead the distribution function until Barber joins the firm. 

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Aviva’s global asset management business has appointed Jill Barber as global head of distribution, who is expected to join the firm later this year subject to regulatory approval. 

Barber will join Aviva Investors from GAM Investments, where she has served as global head of institutional solutions since November 2020.  

She brings 25 years’ experience in investment management to the firm, having held senior positions at Jupiter Asset Management, Franklin Templeton Investments, Hermes Fund Management and Fidelity International.  

Barber will succeed Louisa Kay, who is set to retire at the end of this year following three decades in the investment industry. Kay will continue to lead the distribution function until Barber joins the firm. 

“I am delighted to have attracted someone of Jill’s calibre to Aviva Investors. Her proven leadership skills and track record of delivering commercial growth, as well as her executive committee and board-level experience, make her an excellent addition to my leadership team and our business,” said Mark Verset, chief executive of Aviva Investors.  

“I would also like to thank Louise Kay who has provided invaluable support to me over many years and driven the client-led agenda across the business and wish her the best for her retirement.” 

As part of her new role, Barber will lead Aviva Investors’ teams responsible for Aviva client, institutional and wealth sales activity in the UK, Europe, Asia and North America, alongside overseeing client experience, strategy and planning, and investment and client communications.  

“I am delighted to be joining Aviva Investors and look forward to contributing to its future growth,” said Barber.  

“The business is uniquely placed to positively enact change and enhance client outcomes through its longstanding commitment to sustainable investment across real assets and public markets.” 

Barber’s appointment follows that of Monica Fan-Bradley, who was named head of institutional sales (excluding Asia Pacific) within Aviva’s global client solutions function last month.  

Fan-Bradley joined from UBS Asset Management, where she spent nearly seven years, most recently serving as managing director and head of global consultant relations. 

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LedgerEdge appointed Stefano Dallavalle is its new product director and Diederik Van Suchtelen as head of its Amsterdam office and EU sales. Van Suchtelen joined LedgerEdge from boutique trading firm SFI Markets – formerly STX Fixed Income – where he was responsible for the Northern European market. Before that, he held senior positions at ATC Financial Solutions and Wallich & Matthes, where he set up the asset back securities desk. Meanwhile, Dallavalle joined from FlexTrade where he was responsible for its European fixed income EMS strategy. Prior to that, he served at MarketAxess in a variety of senior positions across European credit trading including workflows, automation and price discovery. While at MarketAxess, he also led the delivery of the first cloud-based all-to-all trading protocol at the firm.

State Street Global Markets appointed former employee, Nick Delikaris, as global head of automation, analytics and platform services (AAPS) for financing solutions. Delikaris rejoined the firm from Coinbase, where he most recently served as head of digital finance trading. Prior to that, he spent nine years at State Street, serving as managing director, global head of AAPS – a role he will reprise. Previously, he served as State Street’s global head of algorithmic trading, securities finance. Before joining State Street, Delikaris spent a decade at Goldman Sachs in a variety of roles including vice president, securities lending/credit-repo trading and associate, mortgage trader.

Aviva Investors, Aviva’s global asset management business, appointed Monica Fan-Bradley as head of institutional sales (excluding Asia Pacific) within its global client solutions function. Fan-Bradley will oversee the expansion of Aviva Investors’ sales activities with global institutional investors across its pensions, official institutions, liquidity and consultant teams. In addition, she will be responsible for strategic relationships across the UK, Europe, North America and the Middle East. She joined from UBS Asset Management, where she spent nearly seven years, most recently serving as managing director and head of global consultant relations. Prior to that, she served as director, consultant relations at BNY Mellon.

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Fan-Bradley will oversee the expansion of Aviva Investors’ sales activities with global institutional investors across its pensions, official institutions, liquidity and consultant teams. In addition, she will be responsible for strategic relationships across the UK, Europe, North America and the Middle East.

She joins from UBS Asset Management, where she spent nearly seven years, most recently serving as managing director and head of global consultant relations.

Prior to that, she served as director, consultant relations at BNY Mellon.

Fan-Bradley has over 25 years’ experience working in a wide range of senior positions on both the buy- and sell-side. She also serves as a member of eVestment’s asset manager board and the advisory council of The Diversity Project UK.

In her new role, she will report directly to Louise Kay, global head of client solutions.

“As we continue to expand our distribution capabilities the leadership skills Monica brings to our business, along with her proven track record in raising client capital, will be critical in achieving the ambitious targets we are setting ourselves for driving growth and assets under management,” said Kay.

“We believe Monica’s calibre and talent will be incredibly valuable and we welcome her warmly to Aviva Investors.”

The post Aviva Investors taps UBS Asset Management for new head of institutional sales appeared first on The TRADE.

A bull run 

ETFs are inundating the bond markets right now – to the tune of $32.5 billion in July alone, according to BlackRock’s monthly ETP survey. It was a significant uptick from June’s $3.2 billion, driven primarily by a surge of interest in corporate bond ETFs, which saw inflows of $13.8 billion in July, reversing the $9.9 billion outflows seen the previous month, with investment grade credit taking the lion’s share. 

“ETFs have become a significant market mover, and their influence on market prices has become much more noticeable over the last 12-18 months,” agreed Michael McGill, senior portfolio manager for emerging markets at Aviva Investors, speaking to The TRADE. “They’ve definitely become a much bigger player, especially in emerging markets hard currency.” 

“ETFs have become a significant market mover, and their influence on market prices has become much more noticeable over the last 12-18 months.”

European ETFs also saw a jump in July, attracting the highest monthly inflows in two years, with $2.2 billion in new blood flowing in. Much of this growth is down to changing market sentiment, as investors shift their focus to fixed income amid expectations of a significant growth slowdown and as rising interest rates pump up yields.  

“We prefer investment grade (IG) credit over equities on a tactical horizon as we see a new market regime with higher volatility taking shape,” said BlackRock in an August research note. “We believe IG credit can weather a significant growth slowdown whereas equities don’t look priced for this risk.”  

Yields are certainly on the rise, while prices are falling, meaning that opportunities abound. And investors are not just buying to hold – trading activity is also on the up, with 13 June seeing daily notional volume traded in bond ETFs hit an all-time high of $58 billion.  

But what impact is this ETF activity having on the underlying market? It depends who you talk to.  

The argument for 

“Proponents of an expanded utilisation of bond ETFs argue that fixed income ETFs not only provide an additive source of fixed income liquidity and exposure but also a novel means of price discovery for the underlying cash bonds,” explained Colby Jenkins, strategic advisor at advisory firm Aite Novarica. “As such, they are seen as a panacea for the inefficiencies of the fixed income markets.” 

“ETFs not only provide an additive source of liquidity and exposure but also a novel means of price discovery for the underlying cash bonds.”

Some take it even further, suggesting that bond ETFs are increasingly necessary shock absorbers to support wider market dislocations, and could help institutional fixed income traders navigate volatile market conditions, especially when the underlying cash bond markets run dry.  

But others believe that the influx into ETFs is sucking up secondary market liquidity for the underlying cash bonds – contributing to the problem, not the solution.  

The case against 

“We’ve had some really huge ETF flows over the past month, and that rise in passive flow is exacerbating some of the other problems in terms of liquidity,” noted a source who wished to remain anonymous. 

“The rise in passive flow is exacerbating some of the other problems in terms of liquidity.”

The issue is that ETF flows are, by and large, indiscriminate in the way that they execute. Whereas an active manager will usually have either a trader in-house, or use an outsourced service to access the market, passive portfolio managers tend to be more systematic, and use electronic platforms a lot more – even when the liquidity or the size of the trade doesn’t necessarily merit using a platform.  

What can then happen is that in times of very low liquidity, these platforms make automatic offer or bid requests in high multiples, and when they get filled in some orders but not in others, they just keep asking over and over, which can push the market in either direction.  

“They can also trade at a price that is not necessarily close to where the bonds are being quoted, which can then reprice the market to the wrong levels,” the anonymous source added.  

“It can create a lot of problems for the dealer community, who are taking what risks they can, because they end up short or long and then find themselves priced out of their position instantly, making a loss. In emerging markets especially, we’ve had some large ETF inflows that have been driving the market, and pushing it into dislocation, and that’s a frustration.” 

Another concern is that should the flows reverse, selling pressure within the secondary ETF space could spill over into the underlying cash bond market, placing undue selling pressure on an already highly illiquid market.  

But “that may not always be the case,” said Jenkins. “For the most highly traded FI ETFs, previous examples of significant market dislocation for the underlying bonds to date have provided evidence that liquidity in the secondary market for bond ETFs surge with little drawn down effect on the underlying market via the primary create/redeem mechanism.”

The opportunity up-side 

From a buy-side perspective, the biggest fear is the uncertainty – because no one really understands how long ETF flows will last.

“On the real money side, portfolio managers can usually get a sense of how investors are thinking and feeling toward the asset class, and whether there are inflows or outflows coming,” explained McGill. “But on the ETF side that is a lot trickier and can be different from day to day because no one knows how they’ll behave, or how long the flow will last.” 

 “You can try to figure out when the robots are buying and selling, and use them as a liquidity provider.”

For McGill, the solution to help manage portfolios more efficiently during volatile markets is to better understand ETFs themselves.  

“Take look at the technicals, the net asset values (NAV), the richness, the cheapness… and then you can try to figure out when the robots are buying and selling, and use them as a liquidity provider,” he recommended.   

The post Are bond ETFs the bad guys? appeared first on The TRADE.

Susan Schmidt joins Aviva Investors after three years as a senior portfolio manager covering small and mid-cap US equities for investment management firm Westwood Holdings.

She has more than 25 years of experience in the investment industry. In her new role, Schmidt will be based in Chicago and will report to recently appointed chief investment officer for equities, David Cummings.

“[Schmidt] is a high-calibre and experienced investment professional, and her arrival further signals our commitment to having strong integrated teams across all key areas of the equities market,” Cummings said. “We plan to add resources to further strengthen the US team over the coming months.”

Aviva Investors has already made moves to bolster its equities business globally this year after poaching eight fund managers from Standard Life Aberdeen in July. At the time, the asset manager said that the new hires reflect its commitment to invest in its equities division.

Chief executive officer at Aviva Investors, Euan Munro, also commented that investing in the equities capabilities at the firm is a strategic priority for the business, adding at the time that the eight new hires will enhance Aviva’s ability to offer compelling equity propositions for wholesale and institutional investors.

“We are excited about the establishment of our US equities team under [Schmidt’s] leadership,” Tom Meyers, head of Americas client solutions at Aviva Investors, added. “The US equities team will complement our growing global equities platform and our expanding North American fixed income capabilities, allowing us to better serve clients regionally and around the globe.”

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Aviva Investors said the new hires reflect the firm’s commitment to invest in its equities business, following the appointment of David Cumming as chief investment officer for equities in January this year.

Mikhail Zverev and Alistair Way will join as head of global equities and head of global emerging market equities, respectively.

Zverev was formerly head of global equities at Standard Life, where he also served as a portfolio manager for a number of funds. Similarly, Way was formerly head of Asia and global emerging market equities at Standard Life and a portfolio manager for several funds.

Both will report to Cumming, alongside Henry Flockhart and Adam McInally, who are joining Aviva Investors as UK equity portfolio managers. Both were formerly investment directors for UK equities and portfolio managers at Standard Life.

Aviva Investors also confirmed it has hired Jaime Ramos Martin, Stephanie Niven and Ross Mathison as global equities portfolio managers, alongside Jonathan Taub and Will Malcom who will join Aviva as global emerging markets portfolio managers.

All of the newly appointed portfolio managers join Aviva Investors from Standard Life, apart from Niven who joins from Tesco Pension Investment.

“We are delighted to attract such high-calibre, experienced individuals with strong performance track records to Aviva Investors, and look forward to them joining the team in the coming months,” said Cumming.

“These appointments, along with additional hires we plan to make this year, will complete the creation of strong, integrated teams in the key areas of global, emerging markets, Europe, US and UK equities.”

Chief executive at Aviva Investors, Euan Munro, added that investing in its equities capabilities is a strategic priority for the business.

“These hires will enhance our ability to offer compelling equity propositions for wholesale and institutional investors, as well as strengthening idea generation for our broader range of investment solutions,” he said.

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At the time, US central clearing rules were just coming into play, while Europe was still drafting its own proposals. Three years down the line and not a lot has changed.

Hadingham joined Aviva in 2005 and was appointed head of derivatives and counterparty risk at Aviva Investors in 2010.

He is also derivatives officer for the UK business at Aviva Investors the UK-based asset manager with assets under management of £246 billion.

During his last interview back in 2013 Hadingham noted that Aviva increased its derivatives activity shortly after he joined.

“Around 2006, we started to ramp up our activities in derivatives to ensure we could support what our fund managers needed to do on behalf of clients. The majority of what we do is in the interest rate, inflation and credit space.”

Those three mentioned areas of derivatives have been affected the most by incoming regulatory reforms, which will introduce mandatory central clearing requirements for them.

Hadingham has spent years working in derivatives-related roles across the industry within banking, insurance and asset management.

At Aviva he has been heading up the asset manager’s work on meeting derivatives requirements under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), along with the equivalent Dodd-Frank regulation in the US.

Hadingham is a chartered management accountant and a member of the Association of Chartered Management Accountants (ACMA).

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