Canada-based Aston Hill Asset Management has hired portfolio manager John Kim within its investment team as well as making two senior sales hires, as the firm looks to bolster its wealth management offering.

Canada-based Aston Hill Asset Management has hired portfolio manager John Kim within its investment team as well as making two senior sales hires.

Kim joins Aston Hill most recently from Sentry Investments and has 20 years' experience in the investment industry, managing Canadian equities. A new Canadian total return fund for which he will be the portfolio manager is currently in development, Aston Hill said.

Meanwhile, Karl Palmen has been appointed as vice president of sales in Vancouver, while Marco Manocchio, also vice president of sales, will be based in Montreal, Quebec (Quebec was previously covered from the Toronto office).

“On the heels of our highest ever quarter of mutual fund sales, the addition of Karl and Marco to our team completes our goal of providing Canada-wide sales coverage,” said JD Rothstein, senior vice president and national sales manager at Aston Hill.

Palmen joins Aston Hill from NexGen Financial, where he spent eight years as vice president of sales. Prior to NexGen, he spent 12 years at CI Investments, most recently as a vice president of sales.

Manocchio spent the last six years at BMO Global Asset Management as vice president of regional sales, prior to which he held sales roles at Montreal-based fund companies including OpenSky Capital and TAL Fund Management.

Aston Hill is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aston Hill Financial, an asset management company with offices in Calgary, Toronto and Halifax.