RBC Global Asset Management builds out emerging markets capability in UK

LONDON , UK, Jan. 13 /CNW/ - RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM), the leading Canadian-based global investment manager and part of RBC Wealth Management, today announced the hires of Philippe Langham and Michael Joynson to its London team.

Langham, who holds the position of portfolio manager, will be responsible for establishing and leading RBC GAM's Emerging Markets equities team. He has been active in the investment management industry since 1992. Most recently, he was the head of Global Emerging Markets at Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM) in London , and prior to this, he was based in Zurich as head of Asia and Emerging Markets for Credit Suisse.

Joynson joins RBC GAM as a senior member of the European Equities team. He has twenty years experience in the investment management industry and was most recently at Citigroup, where he was a director in Global Equity Strategy. Prior to this he was at Invesco Perpetual.

Commenting on the hires, Dominic Wallington , CEO & CIO of RBC Asset Management U.K. Ltd, said: "Philippe and Michael share our belief that a disciplined approach is key to successful investing. Philippe brings to RBC GAM a wealth of experience in emerging markets, spanning Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. In addition, Michael's diverse experience within equity markets is rooted in a strong process orientation, which fits very well with our own approach to security selection. We are actively looking to hire two more people to our team in the coming months. This is all part of our strategy to assemble a comprehensive offering of high performing global debt and equity investment solutions for our clients and partners worldwide."

The appointments of Langham and Joynson follow the news that Jane Lesslie and Soo Boo Cheah, both Fixed Income portfolio managers, have relocated from RBC GAM's Toronto group to London to take advantage of the access to liquidity, research, and corporate management teams that position London at the centre of emerging markets and global fixed-income portfolio management.

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate under the master brand name RBC. We are Canada's largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalization, one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies and among the largest banks in the world, as measured by market capitalization. We provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking and transaction processing services on a global basis. We employ more than 80,000 full and part-time employees who serve more than 18 million personal, businesses, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada , the U.S. and 53 other countries. For more information, please visit www.rbc.com.

About RBC Global Asset Management and RBC Wealth Management

RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM) is a leading Canadian-based global investment manager. It has award-winning mutual funds and is highly experienced in institutional money management. RBC GAM and its component companies manage approximately $200 billion in assets in the United States and Canada . RBC GAM has offices in the US, Canada , Europe and Asia. It ranks among the top 100 asset management firms in the world, according to Pension & Investments magazine. For more information, please visit www.rbcgam.com.

RBC GAM is part of RBC Wealth Management, which directly serves affluent and high net worth clients in Canada , the United States , Latin America, Europe and Asia with a full suite of investment, trust and other wealth management solutions. The business also provides asset management products and services directly and through RBC and third-party distributors to institutional and individual clients, and has more than $500 billion of assets under administration, over $245 billion of assets under management and more than 4,500 financial consultants, advisors, private bankers and trust officers. RBC Wealth Management was recognized as the Outstanding Private Bank in North America by Private Banker International in October 2009 .

For further information: Media Enquiries: Greentarget, London: Phillippa Cantrill, Telephone: [phone]; RBC Wealth Management, UK: Sanam Alaghband, Telephone: [phone]; RBC Wealth Management, Canada: Chris Dotson, Telephone: [phone]