20 April 2015

J P Morgan A M adds to fixed-income insurance team

Gilles Drukier has been appointed a client portfolio manager for European fixed-income insurance solutions at J P Morgan Asset Management.

In the newly established role, Drukier will be based in London and report to Gregory Tell, head of global fixed-income insurance, pension & retirement solutions, working closely with the global insurance solutions team.

Before joining J P Morgan Asset Management, Drukier worked in Morgan's investment bank where he held several positons including one in the insurance strategic advisory group. His previous experience included stints at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.

"Gilles' appointment is to support our rapidly growing client base in this area," said Tell. "The global insurance solutions business has had a compound annual growth rate of over 40% in the last three years and fixed income is at the core of that growth." The insurance business's assets under management rose from $28bn in 2011 in general accounts to $78.8bn at the end of 2014.

Drukier added, "Investing in fixed income is becoming increasingly complex for insurance companies requiring higher yields and ALM [asset/liability management] matching from their fixed-income allocations, while staying within their overall risk tolerance and capital limits. They cannot assume a 'buy and hold' strategy will offer the yield it once did."