The division is headed up by new chief executive Gilles Glicenstein and his two deputy chief executives, Philippe Marchessaux and Pascal Biville.

Mr Glicenstein has been chief executive of the asset management business line of BNP Paribas since June 2005 and was head of BNPP AM for six years previously. From 1996 to 1999, he held the role of executive vice-president of BNP Gestions (the asset management arm of BNP).

He joined BNP Group in 1994 as director of strategy and development and executive board secretary after having spent four years as a financial inspector and a treasury official at the AMF, the French Ministry of Finance.

Mr Marchessaux is head of marketing, communication, and wealth management at BNPP IP, as well as being head of FundQuest. He has been a member of the executive committee of the asset management business line of BNP Paribas since 2005. He began his career with BNP Paribas group in 1987 as an equity and fixed income portfolio manager.

Mr Biville is head of finance and human resources, operations and IT. He has been chief operating officer of the asset management business line of BNP Paribas since 2005.

Prior to that role, he spent three years as secretary general of Crédit Lyonnais Americas in New York (now known as Calyon Americas) where he was in charge of the merger between Crédit Lyonnais and Crédit Agricole Indosuez in the Americas.

The senior management team continues to be supported by the executive committee, a decision-making council, also chaired by Mr Glicenstein. Michel Anastassiades, chief executive of FundQuest, became the executive committee’s newest member earlier this month.

BNPP IP focuses on building asset management expertise, merging traditional active management and alternative investment strategies and expanding into new markets. BNPP IP says its strategy is designed to foster entrepreneurship and promote its expertise and that of its partners.

At 31 December 2008, assets under management amounted to €305 billion ($387 billion), nearly half of which was managed for institutional clients. The company employs 2,384 professionals serving clients in 72 countries.