Kanish Chugh, former head of distribution at Global X, has taken up a role at PIMCO.
Chugh spent a decade at ETF provider Global X, initially joining when the firm was called ETF Securities, and worked in a variety of roles.
This culminated in him being appointed as head of distribution in September 2022.
His departure a year later came “as a result of a restructure designed to position the brand for continued growth and to align our operations with the functional structure of other Mirae Asset-owned investment brands worldwide”, Global X said.
He has now taken up a role as an account manager at fund manager PIMCO within the Australian global wealth management team.
A spokesperson for PIMCO confirmed the hire to Money Management.
As well as Chugh’s departure, head of investment strategy Blair Hannon departed the business to join Macquarie as an ETF investment strategist, as well as chief executive Evan Metcalf.
Metcalf was replaced by Alex Zaika who joined the firm from GAM Investments where he had been the managing director since 2018. He previously spent three years at BlackRock and five years at Barclays Capital.
Zaika said: “I am excited to lead Global X at a time of significant growth and advancement in the ETF space. With over US$86 billion in assets under management globally and a strong track record of designing client-centric solutions, Global X is uniquely positioned to forge its leadership in Australia.
“I look forward to working with the talented team at Global X to expand our offering and enhance our value proposition for Australian investors.”
At GAM, Zaika’s role was replaced by Eric Finnell as managing director for Australia, who joined from Bennelong Funds Management where he was the head of institutional-APAC.
Global X is a member of South Korea-based Mirae Asset Financial Group and features over 90 ETF strategies and more than US$45 billion in assets under management.
