James Vella-Bamber, Pete Blackburn and Farhan Ahmed, Aztec Group;

Leading independent fund and corporate services provider, the Aztec Group, has announced that Pete Blackburn and Farhan Ahmed have joined its real assets senior leadership team in Luxembourg.

Previously based in the Group’s Jersey office, Pete has been with the Group for over 10 years and has held numerous positions in relationship management and financial reporting, gaining exposure to a wide range of asset classes and structures, including mezzanine, mid-market buyout funds and fund of funds. He was promoted to Associate Director in 2013.

In his new role, Pete will have overall responsibility for a portfolio of real estate and infrastructure clients, overseeing core day-to-day outsourcing activities such as financial reporting and administration.

Joining the Group as a Director, Farhan will lead a number of client relationship teams responsible for the delivery of administration services to a portfolio of real asset managers. He will also support clients with technical issues surrounding IFRS and Lux GAAP.

Farhan has over 15 years of experience with ‘Big Four’ firms and, prior to joining the Aztec Group, held the role of Director of Audit and Assurance for EY Luxembourg, where he was focused primarily on real estate, infrastructure and private equity clients.

Pete and Farhan will both play a central role in shaping and driving the development of the Group’s real assets offering across Europe.

Commenting on the appointments, James Vella-Bamber, Head of Real Assets for Luxembourg, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Pete and Farhan to our real assets senior leadership team in Luxembourg. They both have an incredible amount of knowledge and expertise in alternatives and I look forward to welcoming them on board as we continue to strengthen our position as one of the leading fund administrators in Europe.”

Aztec Group, which provides a wide range of fund accounting, administration, depositary and other outsourcing services to the alternative investment sector, has operated in Luxembourg since 2007. Employing over 800 staff, the Group administers more than €320bn in assets, 360 funds and 4,000 entities across six leading jurisdictions.