ING Investment Management has made two senior hires in its institutional business as the firm seeks to strengthen its relationships with the institutional investment consultant community in the US and internationally.

Brian Baskir has joined the firm in the new position of senior vice president and head of global consultant relations, with responsibility for the US and global institutional investment consultant relations efforts.

Michael Beckerman has been added as a vice president on the consultant relations team reporting to Baskir.

"We are very excited to add such talented and experienced professionals to our institutional team at this time," says Erica Evans, head of the US institutional business for ING Investment Management. "We are continuing to strengthen relationships with the consultant community, which has always played a pivotal role in the development of our business. For the first time, we have global management and coordination of consultant relations to serve clients and their advisors on a unified basis around the world. Since we market such a broad range of global strategies, the guidance of independent investment consultants is especially vital to many institutional investors." 

Baskir, who reports to Evans, joins ING Investment Management from Invesco, where he most recently served as managing director and head of US consultant relations. Earlier in his career, Baskir worked for Old Mutual in an array of positions including senior vice president and director of consultant relations.

Beckerman joins the firm from Columbia Asset Management/US Trust where he most recently served as vice president in consultant relations, responsible for primary coverage of over 40 consulting firms, including relationships with both field consultants and research departments. Earlier in his career he held institutional sales positions with John A. Levin and Goldman Sachs.