Alliance Trust, the UK-listed investment company, has appointed Karin Forseke as non-executive chairman of its board.

Forseke will join the board on 1 March 2012 and take up her position as chairman on 2 April 2012. She replaces Lesley Knox, who will retire after a handover period.

Previously, Forseke worked at D Carnegie & Co as chief executive officer; prior to that, she worked at the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange as chief operating officer. She is a non-executive director at Wallenius Lines and the Financial Services Authority, where she is chairman and senior independent director.

In other recent hires, Juergen Lanzer was named portfolio manager on the global equities desk in September. He is based in London and reports to Ilario Di Bon, the firm’s head of global equities. Lanzer previously worked for Schroders, where he spent four years as a global sector specialist.