David Littlewood, managing director of the global financial services group at Microsoft, has announced three new appointments to the worldwide team. The three have been named business development managers with responsibility for the partnerships with 11 independent software vendors who will be managed on a global basis.

Andy Hughes, formerly group manager of financial services partners in the US, will manage relationships with Thomson Financial, Bloomberg, Misys, and CSC’s Insurance Assets. Prior to joining Microsoft eight years ago, Hughes worked at Bloomberg Financial Markets and Dow Jones Telerate.

Sam Vassa, who has been with Microsoft since 1998, will continue to manage the partner relationships with SunGard and Reuters, but now will manage them on a global basis. Vassa worked with SunGard on the first 64-bit applications for financial services and on the first smart-tag and Office XP solution for financial professionals at Bridge Information Systems, which was later acquired by Reuters.

Marcia Engel will be responsible for partner strategy with Fiserv, Fair Isaac, Fidelity, ACI and Getronics. She joined Microsoft in 1998 and was responsible for establishing distribution channels for TransPoint’s electronic bill presentment and payment services. Prior to TransPoint’s acquisition by CheckFree, she secured commitments from larger financial institutions, Internet service providers and Internet portals. Before joining Microsoft she worked with S1 and Prudential Securities.