KNEIP, a service provider to the global asset management industry, has promoted Mario Mantrisi, Executive Board Member and former Head of product Management and Innovation, to Chief Strategist and Research Officer.

From 2 July 2012, Mario will head up KNEIP’s new research division and will report directly to the CEO, Bob Kneip.

“The decision to promote Mario to Chief Strategist and Research Officer reflects KNEIP’s commitment to long term strategic growth and our ambition to be at the forefront of industry innovation,” says Kneip. “This division will focus on four discrete business elements: strategy, research and development, industry representation and knowledge management.”

In his new role Mantrisi will be responsible for developing the company’s strategy roadmap, analysing market information, drafting design concepts for new KNEIP products, organizing KNEIP knowledge and training employees. A fundamental objective of the research division will also be to discover and develop ways to create more efficient client data-management. Mantrisi will be supported in his new role by a team of four permanent staff.

Mantrisi says: “Given widespread economic uncertainty and an overwhelming number of European regulatory directives, the need for market intelligence to inform strategic thinking is greater than ever. The establishment of a specialised strategy and research division will help KNEIP to meet that need. It will further benefit our clients as we will increase the amount of research KNEIP publishes and continue to improve on our existing products and solutions.”