Challenger has appointed Cathy Hales as its new boutique partnerships general manager.

Hales comes from RREEF in New York, where she was chief operating officer for client relations.

She has also worked across the funds and wealth management industry at Deutsche Asset Management, Colonial First State and BT Financial Group.

Hales replaces Michael Lovett, who has joined Vanguard Investments Australia as head of intermediary distributions, after having spent more than six years with Challenger.

In his new role, Lovett is responsible for Vanguard's distribution of index products to the retail market and leads a team of 28 people.

He said the role at Vanguard was attractive, but he also made the move for family reasons.

"I'm a Melbourne boy and I ended up spending a lot of time in Sydney. This role allows me to be closer to my family," he said.

Since his departure from Challenger three months ago, the business has been led by Challenger Funds Management chief financial officer Brendan O'Connor, who became acting general manager for boutique partnerships during the executive search process.

O'Conner and Hales would continue to work closely to support the boutiques business going forward, a spokesperson for the firm said.

Earlier this year, Challenger built a separate distribution team for its boutique business and hired former Amundi Asset Management head of retail sales Cathryn Franks to head up the new team.

In 2011, Challenger grew the funds under management of its boutique business from $3.9 billion to $14.8 billion.

The boutiques business had experienced net flows of $9.9 billion in the past five years, Challenger said.