Heather Brown has been named head of institutional client relationship management for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Aviva Investors, according to a news release.
Brown will report to Steven Gardner, head of institutional EMEA, who joined Aviva Investors in May. She was previously lead for Aviva’s U.K. institutional sales team, responsible for business developments with U.K. pension funds, and will remain in London for her new role.
Brown will be responsible for strengthening Aviva’s relationships and ongoing servicing with its existing institutional investor clients. She joined Aviva in 2018 following time as an investment consultant. She also has experience as a trustee director for the Aviva Staff Pension Scheme, London, which had £776 million ($988 million) in assets as of Dec. 31, 2023, the most recent data available.
The process to appoint a new head of U.K. institutional at Aviva following Brown’s promotion is currently underway.
“Client service and relationship management is vital in understanding how we can help institutional investors navigate market challenges and support them in reaching their long-term investment objectives,” Gardner said in the news release.
“I am therefore thrilled to have Heather lead our efforts in this regard with her deep understanding of the needs of institutional clients and their advisers, making her the standout candidate for the role,” he said.
Aviva has also seen another departure, with Cyril Martin leaving his role as head of investment solutions to join Oaktree Capital Management as managing director and head of EMEA insurance solutions, according to a news release from Oaktree.
At Oaktree, Martin will be primarily responsible for developing and managing the insurance client base in EMEA and building insurance analytics globally. Martin is based in London and will report to Greg Halagan, managing director and global head of insurance solutions.
Aviva had £238 billion ($318.3 billion) in assets under management as of Sept. 30.
Oaktree had $205 billion in AUM as of Sept. 30.