GAM Investments hires Australian MD for local expansion

GAM Investments, a global, independent, active asset manager, has announced its intention to open a Sydney office and has appointed Alex Zaika as the firm's first Australian managing director, effective 23 July 2018.

Zaika, who will report to Rossen Djounov, GAM's Hong Kong-based managing director, head of Asia, will be responsible for building the firm's Australian team.

Commenting on his appointment, Djounov said: "The strengthening of our distribution team in Australia underlines our commitment to provide the best service to our clients, meeting their needs in the ever-changing market environment. I am very excited to welcome Alex to the team."

Zaika has over 20 years' experience in Australian financial services covering the institutional, wholesale and retail markets across derivatives, asset management and investment platforms. Since 2016, he has held the role of head of wealth for BlackRock's iShares Australia, having joined the iShares team the previous year as a wealth advisory sales strategist. Prior to BlackRock, he held various senior positions at Barclays Capital and Macquarie Bank.

The new Sydney office will expand GAM's global presence to 14 countries, with the firm currently managing $5.2 billion on behalf of Australian institutional and wholesale clients.