Franklin Templeton hires Aberdeen's Gilbey as UK country head
Replaces Ian Wilkins
Franklin Templeton Investments has appointed Aberdeen Asset Management's head of UK distribution Martyn Gilbey to lead its UK operations.
The appointment follows the departure of Ian Wilkins, who left his role as UK country head in December, after 16 years with the firm.
Effective from 1 August, Gilbey will be based in London and will lead the team to help develop the firm's retail and institutional businesses in the UK and offshore territories.
He will report to Vivek Kudva, managing director, EMEA and India, at Franklin Templeton Investments.
Head of retail sales Alex Brotherston and head of institutional Jill Barber have been leading the firm's UK distribution teams in the interim period until a replacement was found for Wilkins, with the recruitment process starting early in 2017. The pair will report to Gilbey when he starts in August.
Gilbey joins after three years with Aberdeen, where he was most recently head of UK distribution, leading a team of 40. He has also held the roles of head of client management, head of relationship management and head of UK business development at the group, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Prior to Aberdeen, Gilbey was head of wholesale distribution at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, which was acquired by Aberdeen in 2013. Aberdeen also announced in March 2017 that it plans to merge with Standard Life to create an £11bn asset manager.
Before SWIP, Gilbey worked for Mirae Asset Global Investment, where he held the position of global chief marketing officer, based in Hong Kong and then London.
Commenting on the appointment, Franklin Templeton's Kudva said: "Martyn brings a wealth of expertise to grow our retail and institutional presence. I look forward to welcoming Martyn on board and working closely with him on further expanding our business in the UK market."
Aberdeen said Hans Benenga, global head of business development, has picked up Gilbey's responsibilities.
