People Moves – FRS Makes Key Hires

Matthew Baldwin relocates to Hong Kong to become Managing Director Asia
Frederic Simon joins FRS in London as EMEA Head of Sales
Niall McDonagh joins in Dublin as Financial Controller 

Dublin, Ireland – 13 August 2018 Financial Risk Solutions (FRS), a Dublin-based provider of unit-linked investment administration and compliance oversight software, is pleased to announce the appointment of Matthew Baldwin as Managing Director in Asia as well as the hiring of Fréderic Simon as EMEA head of sales based in London, and Niall McDonagh as Financial Controller based in Dublin. 

Matthew Baldwin, who has been with the company since 2014, relocated from London to Hong Kong in late 2017 to oversee the opening of two new offices in Asia; in Kuala Lumpur and in Hong Kong. With the business growing in Asia, this move has become permanent and he takes up the role of managing director in the region. Research published by Munich Re last year put the growth of the life insurance industry in Asia’s emerging markets at above 10 percent across 2017-2018. The same research placed Asian market share of the global insurance industry at 21.4 percent by 2025. FRS is now well placed to capitalise on growth in the region. 

Of his move to Asia, Matthew Baldwin said;

“Many life insurers in Asia still have a heavy reliance on spreadsheets and manual processing for their unit-linked fund administration needs. With the high growth rates and premiums written this needs to be automated. Our InvestPro™ fund administration software includes trade order management, unit pricing, and oversight modules with a specific focus on Asian market requirements. Our reputation for market-leading software has resulted in numerous new relationships, and we look forward to expanding our service to our Asian partners”.

In Europe, Fréderic Simon joins the firm as EMEA head of sales. A Belgian national, Simon has worked in the financial technology industry for 20 years at companies such as FIS, Cetrel Securities Deustche Borse and Cloud Margin. Between 2001 and 2014 he was based in Luxembourg before moving to London, where he has been based for the past four years. Currently, InvestPro™ is the core investment administration system for 62 blue-chip financial services and business process outsourcing (BPO) clients. Fréderic Simon said of joining FRS;

“I’m delighted to be joining the FRS team at this exciting time of growth for the business. Financial Risk Solutions has quickly become a dominant European and Middle Eastern unit pricing software provider and with the evolving regulatory landscape in Europe, there is a strong appetite for specialist providers of PRIIPs/ KID solutions in both the funds and life and pensions industry.”

Niall McDonagh joins Dublin as Financial Controller, reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer. He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and trained as a chartered accountant with PwC before most recently working at international biopharmaceutical company Pfizer.