The UK's Ignis Asset Management has taken on Simon Cowan as fund sales director, responsible for wealth manager and discretionary accounts in London.

Prior to joining Ignis, Cowan served as regional sales manager at Old Mutual Asset Managers, where he looked after multi-manager, global bank, private bank and wealth manager accounts in London and the Channel Islands. 

He has also held sales positions at Lazard Asset Management, Invesco Asset Management and Friends Ivory & Sime. At Ignis, he reports to Austin McBride, head of UK retail.

In other recent moves, at the end of August Ingrid Neitsch was added to Ignis Advisors, the firm’s alternatives division, as head of credit strategies.

Neitsch will be responsible for investments in hedge funds and private equity in credit markets. At the time, the firm said it is planning to launch a strategic credit fund - to be overseen by Neitsch - in the final quarter of 2012. The fund will invest in specialist, low-liquidity credit strategies.  

Ignis Asset Management has £73.6 billion (about $117 billion) in assets under management, as at 23 August.