Sector developments and company hires

AXA IM restructuring
AXA Investment Managers intends to create a new €137bn business unit - called AXA IM Alts - as part of a wider restructuring of the business into two key divisions, with the aim of creating a simplified and more focused organisation. The other new business unit would be known as AXA IM Core. Under the leadership of Isabelle Scemama, who would also remain ceo of AXA IM - Real Assets, the new Alts business unit would bring together AXA IM’s €87bn AUM real assets business, its €48bn structured finance platform and its Chorus hedge fund business. Deborah Shire will take the newly-created role of deputy head of AXA IM Alts, in charge of corporate development, while keeping her current role of global head of structured finance, and joins the AXA IM management board. Dedicated sales and client services functions will be led by Florence Dard, global head of business development at AXA IM - Real Assets, who would see her role extended to global head of client group, Alts. As a combined business, AXA IM Alts could leverage over 30 years of fund raising and capital deployment in alternatives to generate additional cross-sourcing opportunities and market insight. With €536bn of AUM, AXA IM Core will bring together the fixed income, Framlington Equities, Rosenberg Equities and Multi-Asset investment platforms under the leadership of Hans Stoter, who would become global head of AXA IM Core. These changes are expected to be implemented in 2Q20.

Coronavirus insights offered
Moody’s is now offering its research and views on the credit and economic impact of COVID-19 via a dedicated website, available to the public free of charge at moodys.com/coronavirus. Updated on an ongoing basis, the site brings together insights from across the company, providing a resource for market participants to better understand the financial implications of the outbreak.

EMEA
LendInvest has appointed former CBRE senior director and head of loan advisory Anurag Sharma as fund manager, responsible for managing multiple portfolios of assets for investors, including LendInvest’s flagship Real Estate Opportunity Fund. Additionally, he will sit on LendInvest’s credit committee, with a particular emphasis on large and complex bridging loans. Sharma has worked with LendInvest in an advisory capacity for several years while leading the loan advisory team at CBRE Capital Advisors. As head of the debt valuation and underwriting team at the firm, he accumulated experience of pricing debt portfolios across the capital stack and executed a number of debt sale transactions across Europe to private equity and institutional buyers. Before joining CBRE in 2016, Sharma held structured finance positions at Barclays, Deloitte and PwC.