MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI), a provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, announced today that Ashley Lester has joined the firm as Global Head of Research and as a member of MSCI’s Executive Committee. Based in London, Mr. Lester will report to Baer Pettit, President.

In this role, Mr. Lester will be responsible for the development of MSCI’s research across the firm’s product lines and client segments of asset managers, asset owners, banks, corporates, hedge funds, insurance companies, and wealth managers. He will partner closely with MSCI’s product, client coverage, technology, and marketing teams to ensure the continued development of innovative research, analysis, and solutions that aim to help investors navigate a rapidly transforming investment landscape.

Mr. Lester joins MSCI with over a decade of extensive experience in business leadership, investment management, and multi-asset class investment research. Previously, he spent eight years at Schroders plc in London, most recently as the founding Head of Systematic Investments. He had previously served in Schroders’ Multi-Asset Investment Group as Head of Multi-Asset Research, leading research into portfolio construction, asset allocation modeling, and capital market assumptions.

Before Schroders, Mr. Lester spent two years at MSCI as the Head of Fixed Income and Multi-Asset Class Research, where he managed MSCI’s global team of researchers covering fixed income, multi-asset class modelling, and valuation, driving the research agenda for MSCI’s market-leading risk solutions.

Before joining MSCI, Mr. Lester was Managing Director and Head of Market Risk Analytics at Morgan Stanley, spent several years as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Columbia Business School and Brown University, and served as a Graduate Economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honors and the University Medal from the University of Sydney and a PhD in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“I am thrilled to be rejoining MSCI at a time of rapid change throughout the investment industry globally,” said Mr. Lester. “MSCI is uniquely well-placed to serve the needs of investors and I am looking forward to leading the development of our best-in-class investment insights.”