ETF Securities, the London-based issuer of exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) and funds (ETFs), has added two senior executives to its team.

Scott Thompson, who joins the firm as head of UK and Irish sales, was previously head of ETF market-making at JP Morgan, where he set up the ETF operation in 2006.  Thompson also has a background in the derivatives team at UBS.

Townsend Lansing is joining the firm's product development and structuring team as a senior manager.  He previously worked at Bank of America in equity derivatives product development, and also as a lawyer in capital markers, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity.

ETF Securities' headcount has increased from 17 to 40 in the last twelve months.

At the same time the firm's assets under management recently surpassed the US$11 billion mark, and have almost doubled in six months.  Having reached US$10 billion in July 2008, assets fell back to below US$6 billion in November, reflecting the decline in commodities prices from their mid-2008 peak, and concerns over certain ETCs' counterparty exposure to AIG.  The recent increase in assets is primarily due to significant inflows into ETF Securities' precious metals ETCs and, to a lesser extent, into energy-related ETCs.