UBS hires Blackrock executive as local head

UBS Asset Management has appointed Alison Telfer as the country head of Australia and New Zealand replacing John Mowat who will resume running the firm's real estate business.

Telfer joins from Blackrock where she has worked for the past eight years, most recently as chief operating officer, general counsel, and head of public policy for Australasia helping provide global capabilities to the local market and assisting BlackRock and clients to navigate regulatory change.

She has more than 20 years of experience working in global asset management and held a range of roles within the industry spanning product development, strategy, client distribution, legal, compliance, regulatory, and government affairs as well as the heading up operations.

Before working at Blackrock, Telfer served as senior legal counsel and later as a director of specialised product development and co-investment,  at Challenger.

"Her {Telfer's} strategic mindset coupled with her extensive Asia Pacific asset management experience will be valuable in helping her position UBS Asset Management for the future," said Nick Hughes, joint-country head of UBS Australasia.

"Alison is a highly experienced and impactful senior leader and has a solid track record of leveraging the best of breed product capabilities of a global organisation to benefit local clients."