Barings builds up local team

Barings has beefed up its Australian team by adding another distribution executive.

The US$351 billion investment manager has appointed Jonathan Baird as head of Australia wealth distribution.

Baird joins from Income Asset Management Group, where he led its asset management business.

Previous roles include local head of client services and marketing for Western Asset Management, Investment specialist at UBS and senior investment analyst at Zenith Investment Partners.

He will report to Jon Millin, head of UK, EMEA and Asia Pacific distribution.

Baird's appointment comes just as Barings ramps up its regional team in line with its long-term growth strategy.

The asset manager is building up institutional, wealth and retail businesses in Australia, Greater China and Southeast Asia.

Last August, the firm hired Aaron Thirukumar as director of Australian institutional sales.

Both Thirukumar and Michael Gaffney, head of distribution for Australia and New Zealand, focus on institutional business, while Baird is on the wealth side.