Sycomore AM appoints a new CEO and strengthens its governance

Denis Panel joins Sycomore Asset Management, part of Generali Investments, where he will serve as Chief Executive Officer. Emeric Préaubert, co-founder of Sycomore AM, steps down from his operational role but remains a member of the Supervisory Board to which he will bring his expertise and intimate knowledge of the company. 

Christine Kolb and Cyril Charlot, co-founders of the firm and respectively Head of Business Development and CIO, will maintain their current responsibilities and functions, supporting Denis as they continue to pursue this shared adventure.

Denis Panel, who will assume his duties from April 3rd, 2023, is tasked with upholding Sycomore AM’s corporate mission: to bring a human dimension to investment and support the development of a more sustainable and inclusive economy, thereby creating value for its clients and for all the company’s stakeholders. As such, Denis’ specific mission will be to reinforce Sycomore AM’s position as a leading player in Responsible Investment: he will take an active part in the development of the business, accelerating international growth, strengthening investment processes, and deploying new initiatives across the firm’s financial offering. In the coming months, priorities will include optimising Sycomore AM’s product strategy, which will involve exploring innovative, performance-driven, and meaningful investment solutions.

Denis Panel, 52, served until recently as Global Head of the Multi-Asset, Quantitative & Solutions (MAQS) division, BNP Paribas Asset Management’ largest investment centre. In this role, Denis spearheaded several strategic projects, including the development of the ETF strategy and its emphasis on responsible investing – with the launch of the first Low Carbon ETF as early as 2008 – and more recently, the creation of BNP Paribas’ fund manager selection platform, AMSelect. He began his career in 1994 at Société Générale AM where he served as a fixed income fund manager before joining Crédit Agricole AM in 1997, where he was later appointed Global Head of Multi-Asset Investments in 2004. Denis was recruited by BNP Paribas Asset Management in 2007 to head the SIGMA group, where he steered the unit’s global development; he was then appointed CEO of THEAM in 2013, an index-linked and quantitative asset management firm, which included teams of portfolio managers, analysts, and specialist sales professionals.

Denis Panel is a qualified actuary and graduated from the Institut de Science Financière et d'Assurances – ISFA.