The asset management house has named a former senior executive at Schroders as president, operating both from London and San Francisco.

Wells Fargo Asset Management, part of San Francisco-headquartered Wells Fargo, has appointed hat Nicolaas Marais as president, operating both from California and the UK.

In this role, he will take responsibilities including multi-asset class solutions, research, and product management. Marais takes on the role on Feb. 1, the firm said yesterday. He will report to Kristi Mitchem, chief executive and head of WFAM. The role is a newly-created one, Wells Fargo told this news service.

Most recently, Marais was head of multi-asset investments and portfolio solutions for Schroders, the UK-listed investment house and private bank. 

Prior to his five years with Schroders, Marais was global head of active portfolio management at BlackRock Multi Asset and Client Solutions. Before this role, Marais held several leadership roles with Barclays Global Investors, including global head of investment strategy, head of active equity-Europe, head of investment strategy UK/Europe, and head of active equity product management. Earlier in his career, he also worked for The World Bank Group as a bond trader and for the South African Reserve Bank as a gold trader.

WFAM has more than $482 billion in assets under management. (As at Dec 31, 2016.)