Natixis’s asset management arm Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) has bolstered its external distribution and institutional market capabilities with two senior appointments to cover France, Geneva and Monaco.
Estelle Castres has been appointed deputy head of institutional clients and will report to Antoine Tiago, deputy director of NGAM distribution France, Geneva and Monaco, who heads institutional investor relations.
In addition, Babak Abrar has been named head of wholesales (IFAs, distribution platforms, private banks and multi-managers) reporting to Christophe Point, director, NGAM distribution, France, Geneva and Monaco.
Castres will be in charge of strengthening NGAM’s existing relationships with key institutional clients based in France, focusing particularly on insurance companies. She joins NGAM from AXA Investment Managers where she held a similar position from 2010, having joined the company in 2007 as a senior fixed income product specialist. She had previously served for two years as a portfolio manager, managing enhanced money.
Abrar has been charged with developing NGAM’s partnerships with private banks, multi-managers, distribution platforms, financial intermediaries and IFAs based in France, Geneva and Monaco. Abrar joined NGAM in 2008 and launched the Swiss office in Geneva. Prior to this appointment, he served for six years as head of institutional and intermediary client relationships for French-speaking Switzerland. He had previously worked for three years within the institutional team of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, having begun his career with JPMorgan in Switzerland in 2004.