Shane Edwards has been appointed as managing director and head of Australia and New Zealand client coverage, with immediate effect. Based in Sydney, Edwards (pictured) will be responsible for driving MSCI’s commercial activities in Australia and New Zealand markets, managing client relationships and delivering a strategy for clients within Australia and New Zealand and across the APAC region. He will report to Kazuya Nagasawa, head of APAC client coverage.

Edwards has more than two decades' experience in running large global sales and structuring teams in the investment industry. Previously he served in a variety of leadership roles at UBS, including managing director and global head of equity derivatives where he led the sales of complex products across all asset classes to a broad client spectrum. Prior to this, Edwards was the global head of structured sales, custom index and hybrid trading at the Royal Bank of Scotland, devising solutions for clients globally. He holds a first class honours degree in finance from Macquarie University.

“Shane’s vast experience across extensive client segments and products, and his deep knowledge in financial markets will add tremendous value to MSCI’s growth in Australia and New Zealand. I am confident that his leadership will prove critical to advancing MSCI’s mission of delivering services and solutions that address the evolving needs of our established and growing client base in the region,” Nagasawa said.

MSCI has more than 50 years of expertise in research, data, and technology, which helps clients to understand and analyse key drivers of risk and return to build more effective portfolios, allowing them to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process.