AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed Christoph Manser as Head of Hedge Fund Activities. He will be responsible for managing AXA IM’s funds of hedge funds and of its single hedge fund platform. He will also support the development of hedge fund activities in the other investment franchises of the AXA IM Group.
Manser joins AXA IM from Winterthur Insurance in Switzerland, where he was Head of Alternative Investments, in charge of hedge fund and private equity investments. His responsibilities involved all activities related to the management of the Swiss insurer’s private equity and hedge fund portfolios. In addition, he was a member of the Investment Committee of Winterthur Asset Management.
“AXA IM is committed to growing its hedge funds business with the continued development of our funds of hedge fund platform and of our single hedge fund activities,” says AXA IM’s Chief Executive Officer Dominique Carrel-Billiard. “The combination of AXA IM and Winterthur hedge fund assets gives us an excellent basis for that growth. Christoph has a strong investment track record and has successfully built a team that contributed to Winterthur’s bottom-line. We are confident that with Christoph’s extensive experience and knowledge in the management of alternative investments we have the skills to develop new products and drive our hedge fund business forward.”
Based in Zurich, Manser will oversee the teams based in Paris, London and Zurich, and will report directly to Dominique Carrel-Billiard.