The CIO of Aviva Investors France believes a long-term view is fundamental to a successful investment strategy, although recent events have forced the firm to reassess its attitude to risk management.

Corporate governance and the role of shareholders have shot up the financial sector’s agenda. Chief executive of Hermes EOS Colin Melvin explains the importance of working with firms to change practices. By Henry Smith.

Robeco CEO George Möller believes that the group is in a relatively strong position and will maintain growth over the coming year, and plans to restructure to ensure net inflows. By Nat Mankelow.

Ricardo Manrique, the new CEO at Stoxx, believes that the correct approach to the financial crisis is to take advantage of the opportunities that it offers rather than trying to ‘hunker down’. By Nat Mankelow.

Under the stewardship of José Barréiro, BBVA is taking cautious steps onto the asset management world stage, with the bank’s focus centred on growing market share in Latin America. By Henry Smith.

Emerging-markets giant Mirae Asset Global Investments has taken its expertise out of Korea and into the wider Asia Pacific markets. Wilfred Sit dicusses the roll-out of the Sicav versions of its core strategies for European retail and institutional investors. By Martin Steward.

The Debt Management Office is charged with raising the money to fund the UK government’s recapitalisation of troubled banks but chief executive Robert Stheeman is confident about the huge challenges that lie ahead. By Nat Mankelow.

Many were surprised when Jay Ireland moved from NBC Universal Television Stations to become president and CEO of GE Asset Management but he is determined to focus on risk management and achieving growth for clients in highly volatile markets. By Nat Mankelow.

Société Générale Asset Management’s new CEO, Asia Pacific, Denis Lefranc believes that improving relations between Taiwan and the mainland will create huge opportunities for investors. By Peter Guest.

Armed with an expanded product range and a new strategic alliance, Fortis Investments is aiming to increase its global market share, with China top of the list. By Henry Smith.

Dr Rudolf Apenbrink, CEO, Asia Pacific at HSBC Global Asset Management, believes it is best to target the large flagship institutions, and that China’s sovereign wealth funds are the biggest catch. By Henry Smith.

As an occasional lecturer in asset management at the University of Cologne in Germany, Dr Rudolf Apenbrink knows the value of education. It is one of the reasons why he is beefing up the sales team at the Hong Kong office of HSBC Global Asset Management (formerly known as HSBC Investments) where he is CEO.

After a successful few years in Europe, Steve Potter is returning to the US as the new president of NTGI, and believes the company’s conservative outlook is well suited to turbulent markets. By Nat Mankelow.

Returning to his hometown of Chicago after seven years in London, Steve Potter, the new president of Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI), the $760bn (490bn, £390bn) multi asset class manager of Northern Trust, offers mixed emotions.

“I’m proud to be going back to Chicago – renowned for innovation in financial markets and its global outlook – but it’s been a good time for London and the company since 2001,” he says.

RCM CIO Andreas Utermann tells Henry Smith why he favours riskier assets for long-term liabilities, about the “Grassroots” network, and his disappointment at the take-up of 130/30.

Pension funds with long-term liabilities should not dismiss index-benchmarked equity investing as yesterday’s news. According to Andreas Utermann, global CIO of RCM, the $168bn (€109bn) active equity arm of Allianz Global Investors, the promotion of outcome-oriented investment products as a universal funding panacea, fails to recognise that younger pension schemes might be better advised to have a high weighting in equities.

Vanguard CIO Gus Sauter tells Henry Smith why he is cautiously optimistic for the global economy, and explains his scepticism towards fundamental indices.

In the asset management industry, portfolio diversification is widely regarded as the only “free lunch” in town. But according to Gus Sauter, CIO of Vanguard Investments, ill-fated structured products came to be considered by many investors as another free lunch.

The innovation in the securitisation business which spawned complex leveraged structures such as collateralized debt obligations and CDO squareds and cubeds, was driven by the belief that the slicing and dicing and parceling out of risk would serve to lessen the exposure of a single investor to a high risk.