Pictet names Buckley, Klein to alternative investment roles

　　div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpZURICH Reuters – Swiss wealth and asset manager Pictet has named Edmund Buckley head of the Direct Private Equity division as the Genevabased group expands its alternative investment business, it said on Friday. p

　　pBuckley, who was previously a manager at private equity firm THI Investments, is expected to boost the business of direct investments in companies. pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

　　pBuckley is the first prominent appointment of Elif Aktug, who heads the Pictet Alternative Advisors division and joined Pictets eight managing partners in September.p

　　pAlternative investments are among Pictets key growth areas. At the end of 2021, client assets of 32 billion Swiss francs 32.56 billion were in hedge funds, private equity and real estate funds.

　　pAt that time, Pictet had a total of 698 billion francs in assets under management or custody.

　　pAndreas Klein becomes head of Private Debt, a job which was also newly created, a spokesperson said.

　　pPrivate debt is increasingly competing with traditional bank loans. Klein had previously worked at Intermediate Capital Group. Alternative investments are predicted to grow much faster than traditional investments in listed stocks or bonds.

　　Boston Consulting Group projects that assets under management in this area are expected to climb to 22 trillion globally by 2025 from 15 trillion in 2020.

　　Other major asset managers such as industry giant BlackRock are also betting on this trend.

　　1 0.9828 Swiss francs

　　Reporting by Oliver Hirt, Editing by Michael Shieldsp

　　divdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivdivdiv