AXA Investment Managers has appointed Simon Flood as head of Asia Pacific, including Japan, based in Hong Kong. He will report to Laurent Seyer, global head of ‘client group’.

He succeeds Jean-Pierre Leoni who, after four years in Asia, is returning to France where he will lead AXA IM’s client management group.

Seyer said last week that AXA IM was looking to accelerate its expansion in Asia. The firm has expands both its investment teams and product offering in Asia recently. Last month, the firm added 20 funds in Hong Kong and Singapore, bringing the total number of registered funds to 36 across the two markets.

In Australia, local head Craig Hurt has concentrated on the traditional institutional and platforms markets to date, for AXA IM’s array of strategies. The firm is considered a pacesetter in the ESG space, for which Australian super funds have been particularly receptive in recent years.

Flood is a New Zealander who has spent most of his career overseas. He spent 15 years in London and five years in Hong Kong, before moving to Singapore in 2009. He is due to start back in Hong Kong on August 1.