M&G expands institutional distribution teams in Europe with a trio of hires

29 september 2023

• Three senior appointments in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands
• License obtained to invest on behalf of Italy’s occupational pension funds

M&G Investments continues to expand its institutional footprint in Europe as part of its strategy to provide investors on the continent with greater access to the firm’s broad range of investment capabilities across public and private markets.

The three new joiners are responsible for developing client relationships with insurance companies, pension funds and other institutional clients in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands, providing access to M&G’s full range of investment capabilities and solutions.

• Michael Labhart, Head of Institutional Business Development, Switzerland (joined in July)
• Adrien Negreanu, Sales Director for Institutional and Private Assets, France (joined in September)
• Remich Hendriks, Associate Director for Institutional Business Development, the Netherlands (joined in September)

Michael and Adrien report to Robert Heaney, Head of Institutional Distribution, EMEA, while Remich reports to Stefan Cornelissen, Country Head, the Netherlands.

In Italy, the local market regulator Consob has licensed M&G as an authorised investment manager for Italian occupational pension funds – a milestone for the firm’s business as it opens up opportunities to put its long-track record and investment capabilities to invest on behalf of c.4 million workers enrolled in occupational pension funds. The licence makes the firm’s investment solutions available to institutions at a local level with pre-existing (before 1992) and contractual pension funds overseen by COVIP, the National Authority responsible for the supervision of Italian pension schemes.

Robert Heaney, Head of Institutional Distribution for EMEA at M&G, said: “I am pleased to welcome Michael, Adrien and Remich to M&G and these hires reflect our continued investment in enhancing our distribution capabilities in Europe. In the current market environment, we are seeing significant interest in public fixed income, reflecting our strong track record in European credit. In Private Markets, there is particular interest from our institutional clients in M&G’s Structured Credit, Real Estate Debt and Infrastructure Equity offerings. We also see increased momentum with responsAbility, the Zurich based impact private debt and private equity investor focused on emerging markets, that we acquired last year”.

Michael Labhart, Head of Institutional Business Development, M&G Switzerland

Michael has almost 20 years of experience in investment management with more than 10 years as a sales manager for institutional clients. Before joining M&G, Michael was Head of Pension Fund Coverage Switzerland at DWS for almost seven years. Prior to this, he was a sales manager for institutional clients at Lombard Odier Investment Managers in Zurich. He also worked in product engineering at Man Group plc in Zurich and London. He holds a Master’s Degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen and is a CFA Charterholder.

Adrien Negreanu, Sales Director for Institutional and Private Assets, M&G France

With over 20 years of experience in financial markets working with institutional clients in France, Adrien joins M&G from Credit Suisse, where he was a Director in the Global Trading Solutions team covering French, Belgian and Luxembourg institutional markets. Prior to this, he held different senior distribution roles in the institutional space for Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank. Adrien holds an MBA in Finance, Trading and International Business from ESLSCA and a Master’s Degree in Finance from the Paris Descartes University.

Remich Hendriks, Associate Director for Institutional Business Development, M&G Netherlands

With over 10 years of experience in the financial markets in the Netherlands, Remich joins M&G from the Wealth and Asset Management department at ING, where he worked as a private asset manager. Prior to that, he was Head of Sales at hedgefund HiQ Invest. Remich holds a MSc. in Economics achieved at Open Universiteit and is a CAIA charterholder.

Source: M&G