Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, the Edinburgh-based investment management firm, has appointed Bill Blair to its UK and European research team.

Blair joins SWIP from Nomura Bank International, where he was a member of the UK small to mid-cap pharmaceuticals team. His role will be broader than at Nomura, but much of it has yet to be defined. He will be responsible for some pharmaceutical coverage, and will probably focus on the biotechnology sector as well.