Former Credit Suisse CIO Nigel Faulkner becomes head of technology at T. Rowe Price

Faulkner had been CIO of Credit Suisse's investment banking division since February 2012

International investment firm T. Rowe Price has named former Credit Suisse CIO Nigel Faulkner as its head of technology.

Faulkner is already two weeks into his new role, which will see him leading a global team and supporting all aspects of the company's technology capabilities. According to the company, he will focus on using the right type of technology to improve decision-making, increase efficiency and process research, operations and service delivery to T. Rowe Price clients.

Faulker was CIO of Credit Suisse's investment banking division, having joined the financial services giant in June 2010 after nearly nine years as CTO of equities at Goldman Sachs. After nearly two years as CIO of equities, trading and market data at Credit Suisse, he switched to the role of CIO of the investment bank in February 2012, where he was one of three CIOs of the overall company.

Computing had spoken to Faulkner just before he resigned from his Credit Suisse post. He had explained the key projects that he and his team had been working on, and his views on cloud computing within the financial services industry.

He also explained how it was harder for a firm like Credit Suisse to hire a data scientist - because the company would be looking for someone with computer science, statistician, mathematician and economist-like skills, as well as experience in financial services.

"The idea that you can encapsulate that all-in-one person seems pretty unlikely when you look at the breadth of the field of our investment bank, let alone the broader remit of Credit Suisse," he said.

Faulkner will be reporting into vice chairman of T. Rowe Price, Edward Bernard, who said that Faulkner's unique combination of financial and technology experience would be a powerful asset to T. Rowe's clients and to the firm itself.

"His significant strategic technology leadership experience, global technology operations background, and success building organisational talent and capabilities make him an outstanding addition to the firm," said Bernard.

Faulker said he was looking forward to working with a "talented, high-functioning team focused on advancing a long-term strategic technology plan for the organisation".