George Szemere has been appointed Franklin Templeton Investments’ new head of alternative sales for the EMEA region.
Based in London, Szemere joins Franklin Templeton immediately from Columbia Threadneedle, where he was most recently head of liquid alternatives and global strategic relations EMEA distribution.
Szemere will be responsible for growing Franklin Templeton’s alternative business in the EMEA region. He also will partner closely with the various alternative investment groups, product and distribution teams to generate new product ideas and solutions to meet the needs of the firm’s institutional and retail clients in the region.
Szemere spent more than 10 years at Columbia Threadneedle, where he held various positions including serving as specialist sales for Switzerland and the United Kingdom; and client portfolio manager, alternatives. Prior to that, he worked for ABN AMRO Asset Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Franklin Templeton’s alternatives capabilities include private equity, hedge, commodities, real estate, infrastructure and venture capital strategies from Darby Overseas Investments, Franklin Real Asset Advisors, Franklin Venture Partners, K2 Advisors, Pelagos Capital Management, Templeton Global Macro and Templeton Private Equity Partners.