The head of Blackrock’s Ishares division in Switzerland is taking a step up to become CEO of a fledgling asset manager co-founded by Credit Suisse and stocked with illustrious backers.
After seven years as head of the ETF unit Ishares, Christian Gast is turning his back on U.S. asset manager Blackrock. He will become CEO at Systemic Investment Management, dubbed Simag, a source told finews.com.
Gast will take up his new post in November, and plans to turn the company into a leading provider of systematic investment strategies in the Swiss market. He will replace Pascal Schneider as Simag CEO.
Simag was only launched last year, but with high-flying ambitions in the asset management sector. The company, a venture between Credit Suisse's asset management business and the founders of an ETH technical college spin-off, offers quantitive investment solutions using physics, complex self-organizing systems, deep learning and behavioral finance.
Ex-GAM Head as Chairman
The joint venture is based on the expertise of the renowned French physicist Didier Sornette, who for the past 25 years has conducted research into the systematic recognition of inefficiencies and instability in the financial markets.
At the start of the year David Solo, formerly head asset manager GAM, was named chairman of Simag. According to a Solo statement seen by finews.com, Gast has an «excellent understanding of the products and portfolio demands of the top Swiss and European institutions». He also brings expertise on quantitive investment strategies.
Gast, who lead UBS’s ETF unit for 10 years prior to Blackrock, said Simag makes it possible to invest in scientific solutions, and artificial intelligence will be combined with extensive portfolio management skills.
