Martin Currie strengthens distribution capability with two new appointments

Following on from the recent appointment of Andy Hahn to Martin Currie’s institutional business sales team in November last year, the Edinburgh-based fund manager has further strengthened its distribution capability with two more new senior appointments.

Nigel Murdoch joins the business as head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) distribution and Irene Brodie joins as head of marketing.

As head of EMEA distribution, Mr Murdoch will have responsibility for driving business development across the region.

The firm said he brings over 22 years’ investment experience and a deep understanding of institutional markets in this area.

He joins Martin Currie from BlackRock where he worked for 13 years, most recently as managing director for the Middle East, based in Dubai.

In this role, he was responsible for driving sales coverage in the region’s institutional market, including targeting all regional sovereign wealth funds, while promoting the full breadth of BlackRock’s product range.

Before joining BlackRock in 2004, Mr Murdoch held senior roles at BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs with responsibility for generating fixed income sales in Asia and Europe.

In her new role as head of marketing, Irene Brodie will have responsibility for shaping Martin Currie’s marketing strategy across all key institutional and wholesale channels.

She joins from Aberdeen Standard Investments, where she most recently held the role of Head of Regional Channel Marketing.

During her time there, Irene was responsible for the company’s channel marketing strategy across institutional and wholesale channels in the UK, Europe, Asia and North America.

Prior to this, Ms Brodie worked at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) for seven years in a wide range of distribution roles including channel strategy, client relationship management and product development. Previously, she held marketing roles with Aegon and Britannic Asset Management.

Willie Watt, chief executive at Martin Currie, said: “It is an exciting time for Nigel and Irene to be joining the business, with our ambitions set to further establish ourselves as a leading active equity specialist. Nigel brings with him considerable experience of the dynamics of the EMEA region.

“With a well-established network, Nigel has a proven track record of growing assets in these markets.

“From a marketing perspective, Irene has vast experience of building corporate presence in the global institutional and wholesale markets and brings an in-depth knowledge and understanding of campaign management and marketing communications. Their combined skill set and expertise will enable us to further distribute our market leading active equity investment solutions, aligned to our client needs.”