Franklin Templeton has announced a new head of APAC distribution with former co-head of APAC, Matthew Harrison, relocating to Europe.
Effective from 2 October, Tariq Ahmad has been appointed to the role.
He has worked at Franklin Templeton since August 2021, initially as head of Asia distribution before being promoted to co-head of APAC in July 2022 based in Singapore.
Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, he spent six years at Brandywine Global Investment Management and four years at Rogge Global Partners.
The firm said Ahmad will have “ownership and accountability of APAC strategy to best serve the firm’s clients in a region that is critical to the global growth strategy of Franklin Templeton”.
Ahmad’s fellow APAC co-head Matthew Harrison, who was based in Sydney, has been appointed as head of Europe and UK distribution to be based in London.
He was previously the managing director for Australia and New Zealand at Franklin Templeton for four years before being promoted to the APAC role in August 2022.
As well as Franklin Templeton, Harrison spent eight years at Colonial First State (CFS) as the head of investment sales and later, general manager for distribution.
Both Ahmad and Harrison will report to the head of global distribution, Adam Spector, in their new roles.
Spector said: “Over the last several years, we have been purposefully transforming and strategically expanding our firm. In crucial markets including UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC), we have made significant strides in growing our distribution channels.
“Building on this momentum, it is important for us to evolve our leadership talent as we focus on delivering long-term value to our clients.”
The asset manager has also appointed Dubai-based Sandeep Singh as head of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) and India distribution.
Harrison and Singh will take over distribution responsibilities held by former head of EMEA distribution, Julian Ide, who has been appointed as vice chair, EMEA.
In the new role, Ide, who has worked at Franklin Templeton for three years and has over 20 years of fund management experience, will report to president Jenny Johnson and “engage with senior decision makers at financial companies in EMEA to cultivate mutually beneficial long-term partnerships”.
