Avaloq, the international fintech and leader in integrated banking solutions, has strengthened its position in Australia with the appointment of Anantha Ayer as General Manager & Head of Avaloq Australia. Also, James Land has been appointed as Managing Director, Australia, and will report directly to Anantha Ayer.

The hires reflect the significant opportunities the firm sees in the Australian market, and form part of Avaloq’s strategy to become a global leader in the automation of the financial services industry.

Anantha Ayer joins Avaloq’s Australian team from its Singapore based service centre which he led since 2014. Anantha was responsible for overseeing the provision of operational back office services to the financial industry across the Asia Pacific market.

Prior to joining Avaloq, Anantha was Head of Asset & Wealth Management Operations (Asia) at Deutsche Bank. His previous experience includes other senior roles at Deutsche Bank and Citigroup. He brings over 18 years’ experience in the wealth management industry to his new role.

James Land joins Avaloq from Thomson Reuters, where he was Head of Market Development Pacific & Head of Market Development Buyside Asia. His previous roles include Head of Fixed Income at Nomura and Global Head of Rate Markets at Westpac. He will bring his extensive experience in delivering innovation, transformation and growth to financial services companies.

Australia is a key market for Avaloq, with the firm focused on the wealth management market. Established customers include BT Financial Group and Crestone (previously UBS Australia). The wealth market is seen as a strong growth opportunity, and Anantha will look to capitalise on opportunities by providing best-in-market software and platform solutions to customers across Australia.

Anantha will report directly to Chris Beukers, Regional Manager APAC, and member of Avaloq’s Group Executive Board.

Avaloq recently reported record earnings for 2017 driven by strong demand from a growing list of international clients. Its front and back office solutions as well as its SaaS and BPaaS offerings continue to win new customers and deliver significant value for established customers as the digital transformation of the financial services sector, the need for flexible business models and increased automation drive the future of the market. The appointments of Anantha Ayer and James Land follow a number of other key appointments over the past six months at the firm, including the announcement of Paco Hauser as Regional Manager EMEA in March and three new appointments to its Group Executive Board in January 2018.

JürgHunziker, Avaloq Group CEO, said: “The appointments of Anantha and James reflect our deep commitment to the Australian market. We continue to strengthen our offering by increasing our pool of expertise and recruiting key industry individuals to meet strong customer demand for our software and services. Australia has become one of the world’s most advanced financial services markets and we see enormous opportunities for Avaloq’s suite of digital solutions in helping our customers become highly efficient, more competitive and more focused on growth.”