Russell Investments has hired two new associates to its EMEA index team. Gareth Parker has been appointed Director of Index Research and Design, and Stephane Degroote joins Russell as Regional Director of Sales.

Scott Stark, Director of Russell Indexes Europe, commented: “These newly created roles are part of our ongoing strategic growth plan for continuing to expand our index business across EMEA. Gareth and Stephane bring with them a wealth of experience in the index business and I look forward to working with them both as we continue to build on Russell’s index heritage and expertise in this market.”

Parker joins from Standard and Poor’s where he was the Director of Index Research & Design. Prior to this, he worked for the FTSE Group in a number of roles including Head of Index Design and Business Unit Head for alternative investments. He has extensive experience in index research and design, and was responsible for the creation of a number of European and Global indices.

Degroote joins from Correlix where he was Sales Director for Europe and Asia and was responsible for sales and marketing development, as well as building strategic partnerships with European and Asian exchanges. Degroote previously worked at Markit as Director, Head of Sales, Equity derivatives, where he was part of the launch of two new products, the Markit Daily Vol, and the Markit Bespoke Index service.