Canada-based Morguard has appointed Vikash Jain as vice president and chief investment officer of Morguard Financial, its wholly-owned fund management company.

Jain will succeed Charles Dillingham - whose reason for departure is unknown - on December 31. The firm said Jain has expertise in managing multi-billion dollar structured portfolios for large institutional clients and global asset allocation portfolios for high net worth families.

As CIO, Jain will oversee the management of the equity and fixed income portfolios that Morguard Financial manages for its institutional, retail and HNW investors.

The members of Dillingham's portfolio management team, Derek Warren and Kate MacDonald, will continue their day-to-day management of the Morguard portfolio of funds under Jain's direction.

"Jain will build on Dillingham's success to expand our business and bring the benefits of Morguard's expertise to more Canadians," said Rai Sahi, chief executive.

Morguard specializes in North American real estate ownership, investment and management, with over $12 billion of assets owned and under management.