NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Aug 2, 2012) - BNP Paribas Investment Partners U.S.A. Holdings, Inc. ("BNPP IP") has appointed James Johnston as Head of Sales in the U.S. In his role, Johnston will have responsibility for driving BNPP IP's U.S. business development strategy in the defined benefit/contribution, endowment/foundation, subadvisory and consultant markets as well as assisting the firm with its U.S. product strategy. The appointment of Johnston marks an intensified commitment by the company to establishing BNPP IP as a significant player in the U.S. institutional market. Furthermore, it sees a maximizing of sales resources, with the combining of all U.S. sales personnel under BNPP IP; previously there were separate sales teams for the different U.S. registered investment advisors. Johnston is based in New York and will report to both Robert Harrison, CEO of BNP Paribas Investment Partners North America, and Michel Anastassiades, Global Head of Business Development for BNP Paribas Investment Partners.
Harrison said: "Jim has been very successful in growing the business at our fixed income partner, Fischer Francis Trees & Watts (FFTW). He brings a wealth of experience to this position having worked for both investment managers and leading investment consulting firms. He has significant experience in launching and selling innovative investment management strategies and we look forward to him leading our sales' efforts in the U.S. market."
Most recently Johnston was Head of Client Service and Business Development North America for FFTW. He joined FFTW in 2008 from BNP Paribas Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) where he was Director, Americas Pensions Team and helped develop and market derivatives based solutions to manage pension risk. Prior to joining BNP CIB, he spent over 10 years at Mercer Investment Consulting as a lead consultant to various U.S. pension plans. He also led Mercer's investment consulting practice in Hong Kong. Prior to his various roles at Mercer, Johnston worked for Foster Higgins, Hewitt Associates and Kwasha Lipton.
BNP Paribas Investment Partners
BNP Paribas Investment Partners is the dedicated, autonomous asset management business of the BNP Paribas Group. BNP Paribas Investment Partners offers the full range of investment management services to both institutional and retail clients around the world. Central to the way we work is the concept of partnership -- both in terms of how we behave as a family of companies and our relationships with our clients. More than 800 investment professionals work across our network of some 60 investment centers, each specializing in a particular asset class or type of product. With total assets under management of $683 billion*, BNP Paribas Investment Partners is one of the largest asset management firms in the world.
BNP Paribas Investment Partners' U.S. based registered investment advisors provide U.S. and global fixed income, equities and alternative strategies for U.S. institutional investors. Its U.S. registered investment advisors have US$ 63.9 billion* in assets under management.
* Source: BNPP IP, per 31 March 2012