Gail Burke, the head of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Australasia for the past three years, is to become chief operating officer for the business in London, being replaced by a 20-year Paribas veteran, Jean Marc Pasquet.
Burke, who will be replaced in August and take up her new position in September, has overseen considerable growth and development during her time running the local business. BNP has increased assets under custody in Australia from $96 billion to $190 billion in three years. It has become the third-largest provider of master custody and fourth-largest provider of fund administration services. Two of its most recent new clients are the Insurance Council of Western Australia fund and Virgin Super. Burke also pursued a unique development of BNP’s systems and technology, leveraging off the global network and complementing this with partnerships with local providers. Jacques Philippe Marson, the firm’s Paris-based chief executive, said Australia was a strategically important location for BNP’s business and had proven to be a very successful one. “There are significant opportunities for us in this market where investors are sophisticated and premium value-added services are in demand,” he said. Marson added that he was excited to have Burke take on the new chief operating officer role in the UK, acknowledging her successful track record in Australia.
Since taking over the top job at the $44 billion Funds SA more than a year ago, chief executive John Piteo has ushered in an investment function overhaul and wrapped up an important stage of the fund’s five-year data transformation program. It pledges to recentre around investment performance and more efficient processes, as the “missing piece” has been found in incoming CIO Con Michalakis.
Darcy SongJanuary 10, 2025
