Deutsche Insurance Asset Management, the insurance managed equities unit of Deutsche Bank, has expanded its New York operations with the hire of Xiaoyu Liu as portfolio manager and director.

Lu is from Columbia Management Group, the asset management firm owned by Ameriprise Financial, where she served as a portfolio manager specializing in tax-efficient US and global equity strategies. Prior to that, she was a quantitative research analyst at Citigroup Asset Management. 

In her new role, she will be part of a team that manages the IME division's $6.5 billion portfolio. She reports directly to Di Kumble, managing director and head of the IME portfolio group.

Tax-managed equities are a growing part of the alternative investments offering that Deutsche Insurance Asset Management provides to insurers and institutional investors, the firm said. Over the past year, the division's managed equities assets under management increased by 35 per cent.

Deutsche Insurance Asset Management has approximately $201.3 billion in assets under management as of 30 September 2011.