Key promotions at Schroders

Fund manager Schroders has made key management changes, promoting Simon Doyle to the newly created role of chief investment officer, Australia.

The company announced the move today, stating that Doyle would be reporting jointly to Schroders Australia chief executive, Sam Hallinan and UK-based group chief investment officer & co-head of investments, Johanna Kyrklund.

It said Doyle would, at the same time, maintain his responsibilities as head of multi-asset, Australia, “and in this extension of his role will also focus on the opportunities to create and deliver investment solutions for existing and prospective clients in the Australian market”.

The announcement said Doyle would work alongside Natalie Morcos whose role had been expanded to head of product and solutions, Australia, also reporting to Sam Hallinan. She was previously head of product, Australia.

Commenting on the moves, Hallinan said the promotions emphasised Schroders’ focus on finding investment-driven solutions for its clients in the Australian market.

“In the new structure, I will work closely with Simon and Natalie to identify solutions that meet clients’ evolving needs over the coming years. This will also include leveraging Simon’s extensive multi-asset and solution-oriented experience to drive our response to the changing regulatory and market landscape.

“Natalie has played an integral role in our business since joining Schroders in 2020, and in this new role she will bring her extensive industry experience – gained over a 20-year career working with Mercer Investments, Russell Investments, MLC and others – to bear.

“Coinciding with this, Schroders also recently announced the acquisition of River and Mercantile, a UK-based leader in OCIO solutions in the UK Defined Benefit pension market, and we will be able to leverage this expertise in the Australian market to help meet client needs.

“Designing and implementing investment solutions to respond to client problems is at the heart of what it is to be an asset manager, and this will continue to be a core focus of how Schroders positions itself and meets client needs in the market,” Mr Hallinan said.

At the same time, Schroders has made several promotions to support its broader investment focus.

Kellie Wood has been promoted to the role of deputy head of fixed income, Australia, and will report to Stuart Dear who was promoted to Head of Fixed Income, Australia last year.

Sebastian Mullins has been made deputy head of multi-asset, Australia, and will report to Doyle.

Doyle said: “Kellie’s promotion reflects her skills and experience as a fixed income investor and her significant contribution to the leadership and growth of the team over many years. Kellie has been with Schroders since 2007 and is well known and highly regarded both within Schroders and externally. As deputy head, Kellie will continue to work with Stuart in building our fixed income capability and in representing our fixed Income offering to key stakeholders.

“Sebastian is an experienced investor, who has made a significant contribution to the investment team and our clients since joining Schroders in 2019. Sebastian has over 14 years’ experience in portfolio management and has been managing multi-asset portfolios for over 10 years. As deputy head, Sebastian will take on increased responsibility for day-to-day investment and team leadership as well as in representing our multi-asset capability in the market.”

Doyle said the strength of its Australian investment capability is the cornerstone of Schroders’ business.

“These changes reflect the breadth and depth of talent available to us to meet the challenges and opportunities of the markets we operate in.

“The moves also help ensure that our teams and structures evolve to best leverage our extensive global capabilities for our clients in a challenging external environment,” Mr Doyle said.