Alpima, a specialist front-office platform for institutional and professional investors, has appointed Anastasia Bikou as Managing Director of Sales. In this newly created role, Bikou (pictured), will report to Ilan Heimann, Head of Sales and Partnerships. Bikou joins Alpima from Goldman Sachs in London where she spent nine years and was most recently responsible for FX distribution to institutional clients across Europe. Before that, Bikou worked as a Derivatives Trader for the National Bank of Greece and a Financial Analyst at Merrill Lynch in New York. Bikou holds an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School and Bachelor Degrees in Mechanical Engineering

Angelo, Gordon & Co, a USD28 billion alternative investment firm focused on credit and real estate investing, has appointed Steven Paget as a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, European Performing Credit.  In this new role, Paget will lead the build-out of Angelo, Gordon’s European performing credit business with a focus on developing the firm’s European Collateralised Loan Obligation (CLO) platform and investing in the debt and equity tranches of third party CLO managers. Based in London, Paget will report to Dan Pound, Head of Europe, and Maureen D’Alleva, Head of Non-Investment Grade Corporate Credit.   Paget most recently served as

FORT, a multi-strategy quantitative hedge fund founded in 1993 by Yves Balcer and Sanjiv Kumar, has appointed veteran asset management executive Stu Bohart as its President, based in New York. He is one of several new executive appointments made by the firm. Bohart brings over 25 years of experience in the asset management and securities industry. Most recently he served as President of the Liquid Markets business of Fortress Investment Group. During his tenure at Fortress, he served on both the Management and Operating Committees. Prior to Fortress, Bohart held a variety of senior positions at Morgan Stanley, including Global Head

Saxo Bank, a Fintech specialist focused on multi-asset trading and investment, has appointed Steve Weller as CEO of the MENA Region.
 Weller will be based in Saxo Bank’s Dubai office and report directly to Damian Bunce, CCO of Saxo Bank. In his new role, Weller will assume the overall responsibility to grow and develop the business and client base in the region by making Saxo Bank the first choice for traders, investors and wholesale clients in the region.   Weller has more than 25 years of international experience and know-how in the global foreign exchange market. Most recently, Steve was

Pascale Auclair is to be appointed Corporate Secretary of La Française Group, subject to the approval of the company’s Supervisory Board in June. Auclair will become the third member of the Board of Directors alongside Xavier Lépine (Chairman) and Patrick Rivière (Managing Director). Taking over from Pierre Lasserre, Auclair will oversee Internal Control and Compliance, Operational Risks and Data Protection, Legal Affairs and Group Risk Control.   Xavier Lépine, Chairman of La Française Group, says: “We are delighted that Pascale has agreed to this new role and we are certain that her experience in our business lines and her interpersonal

Neuberger Berman has moved into the broader specialty finance industry with the formation of Neuberger Berman Specialty Finance group (NBSF). The firm manages USD299 billion in assets, of which USD60 billion is alternative investments for institutions and individuals.   NBSF seeks to identify assets within the consumer, small business, and bridge loan segments in order to build short duration, income producing credit portfolios for its clients. The group will partner with high-quality originators who have strong underwriting and servicing capabilities. Utilising the latest financial technology, NBSF will strive to create diversified portfolios with robust risk protection. The group will leverage

First Names Group has appointed four client service directors to its offices in Guernsey, Jersey, Singapore and Switzerland. All appointments are effective immediately. To its Private Client service line, First Names Group has appointed Sean Breslin in Geneva, Carola Zoni in Guernsey and Mike Pownall in Jersey.   Breslin has worked in the fiduciary sector in Switzerland for 15 years and has considerable experience managing teams administering trust structures for the UK, non-resident Indian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and South African markets. He has achieved the Swiss Advanced Certificate in Trust Management (SACTM), a Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners

Neudata has appointed alternative data specialist Ian Webster as a Senior Vice President. In this London-based role Webster (pictured), will focus on building relationships with the firm’s savvy buy-side investment management clients, as well as the expanding roster of alternative data providers seeking to monetise data.   “I am delighted to join the incredible team at Neudata. Neudata have a fascinating position at the epicentre of the explosion in the number of funds using independently-produced research and data,” says Webster. “In particular I’m excited about Neudata’s opportunity to evolve the fragmented network of alternative data providers and investors into a

Crypto Asset Management (CAM) has appointed two new executive officers – David Mathews will serve as Chief Legal Officer and Kyle Chaykowski as Chief Financial Officer. Both will be based in CAM’s La Jolla, California office. Mathews (pictured), will be responsible for overseeing the firm’s regulatory compliance programs, managing legal resources and activities and advising on legal aspects of investment product design and structure.   He joins the CAM team with 20 plus years’ legal and regulatory experience in the financial services industry, focusing primarily in the alternative investments space in support of sponsors and distributors of hedge funds, commodity