People Moves

Executive Moves In Asia: June 2011

Tara Loader Wilkinson and Vanessa Doctor 5 July 2011

Executive Moves In Asia: June 2011

WealthBriefingAsia rounds up all the movers and shakers in Asia wealth management over the last month. 

HSBC
Private Wealth Solutions named Chris Marquis as managing director of its Hong
Kong operations and Gareth Morgan and Mike Buhre as global chief risk officer
and global chief financial officer, respectively.

Deutsche
Bank Private Wealth Management hired Farooq Choudhury as director and head of
non-resident Indian Middle East, Shampi Chopra as director and senior
relationship manager for global South Asia and the Middle East, and Rajesh
Mahadevan as director and head of investment advisory, global South Asia and
the Middle East. Omar Farooq joined as director and senior relationship manager
for global South Asia and Pakistan.

Standard
Chartered Private Bank appointed Sandeep Das, previously general manager for
premium and consumer banking at Standard Chartered India, as head of private
banking for India. Based in Mumbai, he reports to Stephen Richard Evans, head
of the private bank, Europe Middle East and Africa, India and the Americas, and
to Sanjeeb Chaudhuri, regional head, South Asia and Group Chief Marketing
Officer for Consumer Banking. He took over from Soumya Rajan, who left in March
2011. 

Serge
Janowski, the chief executive officer and head of wealth management of the Hong
Kong division of French bank BNP Paribas, resigned after half a year. Mignonne
Cheng, chairman and CEO of BNP Paribas Weath Management Asia Pacific and his
former boss, took over his responsibilities in the interim until a replacement
is found.

HSBC
appointed Simon Williams as group head of wealth management effective 11 July.
Williams joined from Camelot Financial Capital Management. He reports to Paul
Thurston, chief executive of retail banking and wealth management.

Deutsche
Bank hired Chris Selby as the head of private wealth management in Australia.
Selby came from Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he was head of wealth
management for Australia and New Zealand. He took over from Steven Skala, who was
acting head of wealth management for almost a year and a half. Skala remains
involved in the business as vice chairman of the bank in Australia.

Italian-owned
Pioneer Investments shifted its investment activities from Singapore to London.
Singapore is currently being groomed as its primary sales hub for Asia.

Merrill
Lynch managing director Jay O'Neil was named head of Macquarie Private Bank's
Australian operations. 

JP
Morgan’s private wealth management arm raided DBS Private Bank for four senior
private bankers including North Asia Chief Edwin Lim, named managing director,
market manager for Greater China based in Hong Kong. Gabriel Chan was also
named managing director in Singapore to lead PWM Greater China bankers. He was
previously the team head for China/North Asia markets. Patrice Huang joined as
vice president in Hong Kong from DBS, where she was team head for the PRC and
Taiwan markets. Eric Goh joined as executive director and investor team leader
for PWM in Singapore. He used to be the head of the investment advisory group
and regional head of investment consultants at BNP Paribas Wealth Management.

Veteran
private banker Lionel Kwok joined HSBC Private Bank as head of investment counseling,
Asia, after only a year in his previous role at Standard Chartered Private
Bank. He will be based in Hong Kong and will oversee the investment counseling
team.

Ascalon Capital Managers, the fund
manager owned by WestPac, hired Chuak Chan to lead its newly-established Asian
operations. Chan previously served as chief operating officer at Segantii
Capital Management.

Singaporean wealth management consultancy
Tria Investment Partners moved its representative office to Hong Kong from
Singapore in a bid to capture a wider share of the Chinese wealth management
market.

PIMCO Australia appointed Eric Frerer as
executive vice president and account manager. He will work with John Wilson, head
of PIMCO Australia, Ben Kelly, the account manager, and Matthew McLenaghan. He
was previously the global head of institutional fixed income distribution for
ANZ’s global markets division.

HSBC India recruited Srikanth
Srinivasamadhavan as head of marketing for HSBC India, joining from Hindustan
Unilever, where he most recently held the role of head of media services, South
Asia. He reports to Gannesh Bharadhwaj, head of retail banking and wealth
management, HSBC India, and replaced Maitri Kumar, who returns to the US.

Gottex, the independent global
alternative asset management group, relocated its co-founder, Max Gottschalk, to
Hong Kong to help grow the company’s business in Asia Pacific.

Nicholas Tan left his position as head of
global wealth management at OCBC Tan is understood to be planning to increase
his involvement with Singapore Management University, having been teaching
there for the past two years as an adjunct staff member. Tan was with OCBC for
six years.

Schroders hired Rajeev De Mello as head
of Asian fixed income. De Mello takes over from How Phuang-Goh, who retired
after 17 years at the firm. He was previously the country head of Singapore and
senior investment officer for Western Ass.

Barclays’s private banking unit in India announced
plans to expand headcount by up to 25 per cent this year, its India wealth unit
chief executive Satya Bansal said.The bank expects its business to expand by a
third over the next three years.

Pictet Asset Management hired Lawrence
Tse to lead its retail and wholesale distribution operations in Asia. Tse was previously
the chief marketing officer at Allianz Global Investors in Hong Kong.

BNY Mellon Asset Management hired Alan Harden as chief executive
of Asia-Pacific. Harden was previously the Asia-Pacific chief executive for ING
Investment Management.

BSI Bank, the Swiss private wealth
manager, established a new North Asia team in Singapore. The group is led by Ng
Tse Meng as managing director. Ng joined from Credit Suisse.

FNZ, the wealth management technology
developer, appointed Martin Jennings as chief operations officer for Australia
and New Zealand. Jennings relocated to the Sydney office from London and
reports to Adrian Durham, the group chief executive.

Citi Private Bank hired three investment
counselors to its investment advisory and sales unit in Singapore. Goh Kwang
Meng joined as a director from HSBC Private Bank in Singapore. Goh Siew
Leng, joined as a director from Credit Suisse Private Bank in Singapore.
Frances Lim joined as a vice president and was also latterly at Credit Suisse
Private Bank in Singapore. All three report to Manav Abrol, South Asia head of
investment advisory and sales.

The Halberg Trust, the New Zealand-based
charity group, has announced two senior hires to its fundraising and events
unit. Grant McCabe was appointed as a manager, with responsibilities including
the management of the Westpac Halberg Awards, and Elissa Downey was appointed
communications and marketing manager. McCabe takes over from Julie Ryan.

HLB Mann Judd, Australian financial
advisory firm, grew its wealth management division with the recent takeover of
boutique planner Howard Financial Partners. The acquisition brings HLB's wealth
staff numbers from six to 11, with Howard Financial Planners principal Howard
Jacob taking the lead as director of the newly merged entity.

Standard Chartered hired Sanjeeb Chaudhuri
as the new regional head of South Asia for consumer banking, a division that
covers the firm's wealth management business. Chaudhuri, who took over from Vishu Ramachandran, was previously the
chief executive of retail and commercial banking for Central and Eastern
Europe, West Asia, and Africa at Citibank. Ramachandran maintains his duties as
regional head for the Middle East, Pakistan, and Africa and took the role of
chief marketing officer. 

UBS Wealth Management hired a
five-strong team in Asia from US rival Morgan Stanley. Peter Tung and Harry
Pang joined as managing directors reporting to Amy Lo, head of ultra high net
worth business in Asia Pacific. They bring with them three assistants. The US
bank replaced Tung internally with Nick Chan, a managing director who starts
soon as sales manager for Taiwan.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of
China Asia launched a new branch in Hong Kong aimed at affluent customers in
the region, the bank's fourth new branch in six months. The new office in Hong
Kong's Quarry Bay features a so-called Elite Club Wealth Management Centre.

HSBC Private Bank bolstered its
international trust and fiduciary unit with three senior internal appointments.
Chris Marquis was promoted to managing director of private wealth
solutions, Hong Kong, after several years working in the PWS divisions in
Europe and Asia. Gareth Morgan became global
chief risk offer, PWS, while Mike Buhre is now global
chief financial officer for PWS.

Selby Jennings, the London-based
recruitment firm with a wealth and private banking business, is launched a
Singapore office. Business out of Asia has grown by 68 per cent over the last
three years, said the firm.

Bank Julius Baer added two industry
specialists. Mark Matthews was recruited last month as head of research
for Asia, from Maquarie Bank where he was Asia strategist. Dr Lee Boon Keng was promoted to sole
head of the investment solutions group in Singapore. He was previously co-head
of the division. Matthews reports directly to Dr Lee and is also based in
Singapore. 

Deutsche Bank Thailand chief country
officer Manfred Schmoelz resigned. Schmoelz will likely join Royal Bank of
Scotland for a similar lead role in Singapore. He has been on gardening leave
from Deutsche Bank for the last two and a half months.

HSBC Private Bank hired Sammy Shroff from
JP Morgan as head of FX and precious metals in Hong Kong. Shroff was previously
the executive director of JP Morgan's private banking business in Asia.

Citigroup appointed a new country head for
Indonesia. Tigor Siahaan took over from Shariq Mukhtar, who will be moving to
Singapore for a new position.

Kirby Daley, a veteran strategist at the Asia business of broker
Newedge was poached by a family office as co-chief investment officer. He will
join a family office outside of the region. 

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