Seattle-headquartered global asset manager, Russell Investments, has appointed Mirko Cardinale as head of asset allocation, Europe, Middle East and Africa, the company said in a statement.

Cardinale joins from Aviva Investors where he was head of strategic asset allocation for four years and the lead fund manager for the company’s UK with-profits and diversified growth funds. Prior to this, he worked at Watson Wyatt (now Towers Watson) where he started as an economist before undertaking the role of senior investment consultant between 2002 and 2007.

“He is an extremely capable and experienced individual with a strong background in implementing asset allocation models to improve long-term investment performance,” said Cristophe Caspar, chief investment officer of multi-asset solutions and EMEA.

This is the third in a series of recent high-profile hires for its multi-asset group. He joins David Vickers, who in November joined the multi-asset team as a senior portfolio manager, and Rob Hall who also re-joined the team in October.

has more than $246 billion in assets under management as of 30 September 2013.