Brunswick Asset Management, a boutique fund manager specialising in Russian equities, has appointed Anton Khmelnitsky, former investment manager at Pictet Asset Management, as head of equities.

Khmelnitsky joined Pictet in 1998 and oversaw $500m (€441.8m) of equity exposure. Since November 1999 Khmelnitsky was managing Pictet's emerging markets flagship fund, The Eastern European Trust, a $125m listed investment company. He was a co-manager of the fund with John Paul Smith, head of global emerging markets equities. Smith will continue to manage the fund on his own but may hire a second manager in due course. "We have a strong internal team with four dedicated managers focusing on Russia," he said.