Two hires and a new office in Stockholm have helped to cement Standard Life Investment’s plans for expansion in Scandanavia.

Two hires and a new office in Stockholm have helped to cement Standard Life Investments’ plans for expansion in Scandanavia.

Named as the firm’s investment director for sales in Sweden, Christopher Andersson becomes the third member of Standard Life Investments’ Nordic team. He will be based in Stockholm and will report to Asa Norrie, co-head of European business and head of Nordics, who resides in the firm’s Scottish headquarters.

Standard Life Investment’s new office in Stockholm and Andersson’s hire follow an increase in investor demand for Swedish absolute return solutions, as well as the establishment of the firm's partnership with Lansforsakringar as a fund distributor, which it intends to develop.

Additionally, Selcuk Acar has been appointed as business development manager for international sales in Germany and Austria as Standard Life Investments expands its European business team. He will be based in Frankfurt and will join the German team of Frank Richter, Dirk Tiemann and Cayley Brown.

In their respective countries, the pair will “ensure that clients have the right investment solutions for their needs, whilst developing and expanding new opportunities across both countries”, the firm said in a statement.

The two hires bring the total number of people at the firm’s European business team to 18.

Prior to taking this role, Andersson was sales manager at Lannebo Fonder, a boutique asset management firm with a focus on Swedish equities. He has also worked in the distribution and client relationship teams at Intervalor in Stockholm.

Acar moves from AXA Investment Managers, where he worked as senior relationship manager for eight years.