George Szemere

George Szemere is Head of Private Markets, EMEA Wealth at Franklin Templeton. He is responsible for strategy and distribution of Franklin Templeton's Private Markets solutions primarily to the Wealth channel across EMEA, working as part of a global dedicated team. The EMEA Private Markets Wealth Team represents Franklin Templeton's growing and dedicated c.$280bn alternatives platform, with a strategic goal to helping the wealth channel deliver better investment outcomes for investors. The firm's private markets investment managers, each with deep expertise, provide a diverse range of capabilities including alternative credit from Benefit Street Partners and Apera, real estate from Clarion Partners, private equity secondaries and co-investments from Lexington Partners, and venture capital from Franklin Venture Partners.

George brings over 24 years' experience in asset management across all client channels and has been with Franklin Templeton since 2019 in a leadership role in Alternatives. Prior to Franklin Templeton, George was Head of Liquid Alternatives EMEA at Columbia Threadneedle where he worked for over 10 years, and also held positions as Alternatives Specialist Sales and Alternatives Client Portfolio Manager during his time there. Prior to that, he worked for ABN AMRO Asset Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, in both firms as a Client Portfolio Manager.

George is fluent in English, German and Hungarian and has lived and worked in the UK, Switzerland, Germany and Hungary. He earned a Bachelor degree of Social Science with honours in Economics from the University of Birmingham. He is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).