The European asset manager has made two senior appointments as part of its UK growth drive.

Candriam Investors Group, part of New York Life Investment Management, has hired Chris Davies as head of UK distribution and Derek Brander as head of UK wholesale.

Davies joins after 11 years with Fidelity and over 30 years of industry experience. He will be responsible for driving distribution across institutional, wholesale and retail investor segments. Brander brings 25 years of experience within asset management and most recently spent five years at Natixis Asset Management, growing its UK wholesale business. Both will be based in London.

“We have always enjoyed steady success over our 20-year history, previously as Dexia Asset Management. But we have seen outstanding rates of growth with a 40 per cent increase in assets since our acquisition by NYLIM two years ago,” said Candriam's chief executive, Naïm Abou-Jaoudé.

“The UK market, the second largest in the world, is competitive, but investors are looking to diversify their asset allocation. With such recognised names now within our reinforced UK team, we are in a position to really drive forward our established presence here.”

Candriam, which has management centres in Luxembourg, Brussels, Paris and London, managed around €90.3 billion ($100.8 billion) in assets as of the end of September 2015.