People Moves
Executive Moves In Asia - May 2011
Here is the latest monthly roundup of moves in the Asia-Pacific wealth management industry during May.
State Street Bank & Trust Co hired Seck Wai Kwong, latterly the chief financial officer of the Singapore Exchange, where he will be replaced by Muthukrishnan Ramaswami, the co-president, as acting CFO. In his new role Kwong will be executive vice president and general manager for global markets & global markets for Asia-Pacific.
Legal & General Investment Management hired Suresh Sadavisan as head of Asian equities, replacing David Riddle, who retired end-May 2011. Sadavisan was latterly head of emerging markets equities at Old Mutual Asset Management in Singapore. He is based in London and report to Ian King, the head of international equities at LGIM.
Julius Baer appointed Mark Matthews as head of investment research in Singapore. Matthews was latterly Asia strategist for Macquarie and had worked as chief Asia strategist for Merrill Lynch and at Fox-Pitt Kelton prior to that.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore appointed Tharman Shanmugaratnam as its new chairman for the next two years. Shanmugaratnam was previously the deputy prime minister, minister for finance and minister for manpower. He replaces emeritus senior minister Goh Chok Tong, who had held the post since August 2004 and will now function as senior advisor to the MAS.
Equity Trust appointed Esther Fung as general manager, private clients, for its Singapore office. She most recently served as senior vice president of wealth planning at the Hong Kong unit of BNP Paribas Wealth Management and has also worked for HSBC and The Bank of Nova Scotia.
StormHarbour made two appointments in Hong Kong: Hong Hoo Moon and Guohua Ren joined the company as managing director, reporting to Water Cheung, the principal and chief executive for the Asia-Pacific. Moon was previously the head of financial institutions group and head of investment banking at BNP Paribas Securities Korea, while Ren was the head of capital markets, China global markets, at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.
Deutsche Bank appointed Lisa Robins as head of its global transaction banking business for Asia-Pacific, effective July 2011. Robins was previously managing director, China executive for treasury and security services at JP Morgan. She reports directly to Werner Steinmueller, the head of global transaction banking and member of the group executive committee and functionally to Boon-Chye Loh, head of the corporate and investment bank for Asia-Pacific. She will be based in Singapore.
Brown Brothers Harriman hired Scott McLaren as head of relationship management and sales for Asia. McLaren was latterly at RBC Dexia Investor Services, where he spent 13 years in various capacities in Luxembourg, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Julius Baer’s North Asia chief executive Andrea Benenati will leave the firm in June to pursue a career as an independent asset manager. Thomas Meier, CEO of Asia and the Middle East, will become the chief executive of Julius Baer's Hong Kong branch and CEO of North Asia at the end of June.
Baring Asset Management named Wilfred Sit as chief investment officer of Barings Asia; he joined from Mirae Asset Global Investments, where he served as head of Asia-Pacific investment strategy and regional chief investment officer for the Asia-Pacific before he became the head of emerging markets investment strategy. In his new role, he will be based in Hong Kong and will lead the state's equity team. He reports directly to Tim Scholedield, the head of equities for Barings.
Veritas Asset Management appointed Lucy Colback, most recently a managing director at Horizon Asset, as fund manager and investment analyst to work across the group’s Asian strategies. Based in London, she will report to Ezra Sun, leads the group’s three Asian products.
Barclays Wealth appointed Carole Cheung as managing director and senior client partner based in Hong Kong. She was latterly managing director, relationship management for mega-wealth Asia at HSBC. She reports directly to Pakorn Boonyakurkul, the head of North Asia.
Fidelity International hired ex-Barclays Global Investors Asia manager Mark Talbot to lead its retail, wholesale, and institutional businesses in Greater China, South Korea, and Singapore. Based in Hong Kong as managing director for Asia ex-Japan, he officially begins on 27 June and will report to Arne Lindman, the Asia-Pacific CEO for Fidelity International. Apart from this role, Talbot will also lead sales and marketing functions for Asia.
Manulife Singapore made several key appointments in Singapore. Clive Anderson, previously vice president and chief counsel at Manulife Financial, Canada, joined the legal and compliance division as senior vice president and chief counsel. Alongside his new role he also holds a regional appointment, providing oversight to the legal and compliance teams in Indonesia and Malaysia. Chris Jackson joined the strategic initiatives office as senior vice president and office chief. KK Loo joined another new unit, the accident and health business, senior vice president and office chief.
Threadneedle added three senior sales directors to its wholesale markets division in Asia. Gerard Clancy, Richmond Herrera, and Kent Ng joined the company to work with financial institutions and global private banks in the region. Clancy, latterly director of sales at BlackRock, was named sales director, wholesale distribution for Asia-Pacific; Herrera, latterly at Standard Chartered Bank’s offshore private banking business in the Philippines, as sales director, wholesale distribution for South East Asia; Ng, formerly market manager for Hong Kong at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, was named sales director, wholesale distribution for Hong Kong and China.
BNP Paribas Securities Services appointed Sam Shi as sales director, Greater China for asset owners and asset managers, a newly-created role based in Hong Kong. Prior to this position, Shi was a sales and relationship manager at Brown Brothers Harriman in Boston and Hong Kong, where he worked for the last seven years.
Hamilton Lane relocated its Asia and Europe managing director to Hong Kong to better oversee its operations in the region. Juan Delgado-Moreira continues to supervise the London-based team of investment professional from Hong Kong.
Genworth Financial appointed banking and securitisation veteran Tony Gill as independent director of its board in Australia. Gill replaces Grant Robinson, who left to pursue other commitments after serving on the board for four years. Gill was most recently as group head of banking and securitisation at the Macquarie Group.
JP Morgan Treasury & Securities Services hired added to its direct custody and clearing capabilities in Melbourne and New Zealand. Bronwyn Clere joined the company as head of Melbourne and New Zealand; she was latterly in Hong Kong, where she led the programme management function for a major financial firm that services 15 Asia-Pacific markets.
Wayne Francis joined as head of direct custody and clearing in Australia and New Zealand, and Ben Vanden Boom joined as head of WSS operations for Melbourne and New Zealand. Francis and Vanden Boom have been part of JP Morgan since January 2011.