A summary of senior wealth management moves in the Asia-Pacific region.

Northern Trust hired Danielle Henderson to its Asia-Pacific (APAC) market advocacy and innovation research operation. Based in Sydney, Henderson is responsible for implementing market advocacy and innovation research activities in the APAC region. The new was newly-created. Henderson joined Northern Trust from Kairos Enterprises, where she was an independent consultant, advocating for market infrastructure development for the Australian securities industry.

BlackRock appointed Deborah Ho as head of Southeast Asia. She joined from Barclays Bank, where she had been managing director and co-head of senior relationship management, overseeing the firm’s platinum client relationships in Asia Pacific since 2012. Ho has more than 30 years’ experience in financial institutions in Asia and the US, as well as extensive senior client relationship experience in both investment banking and asset management. She led DBS Asset Management in Singapore as CEO between 2007 and 2011, after serving UBS as head of fixed income distribution for Asia ex-Japan between 2001 and 2005. She played a similar role for JP Morgan Securities, covering Greater China and Southeast Asia from 1995 to 2001, and worked for Credit Suisse and Citibank earlier in her career. Ho also sits on steering committees for various financial leadership bodies in Singapore and has held board directorship responsibilities in financial and charitable organisations. Head of Southeast Asia is a new title. However, Southeast Asia was previously covered by Kevin Hardy’s role as head of Singapore. 

Rothschild Global Advisory appointed investment banker Elizabeth Wang to become to head its business in Greater China. She took over from Jennifer Yu, who has run the advisory operation in Greater China for 11 years. Yu increasingly focuses on the group’s investment business, keeping her role as non-executive chairman of Rothschild in the country. Kelvin Chau continued as executive vice chairman of wealth management and global advisory in Hong Kong.

Wang has worked in the investment banking sector for more than 20 years. Most recently, she was managing director and head of Hong Kong at Morgan Stanley.  Prior to this, she was MD and head of Asia, consumer and retail at UBS, following a move from London to Hong Kong to join Goldman Sachs in 2000.  A prominent woman in the industry, in 2015, Wang was recognised as one of the Leading Women in Investment Banking by The Women’s Foundation.

ANZ Bank, part of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, appointed a new chief executive for its business in the US, intment of Grant Knuckey as CEO USA, reporting to Farhan Faruqhui, group executive for the international business. Knuckey’s appointment meant he left his CEO role for Japan. In a career that has seen Knuckey work at ANZ for over 20 years, he spent 15 years in Asia. Stints have include leadership roles at ANZ in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar; he has also been deputy head and head of institutional business in China. Knuckey is based in New York. He replaced Truett Tate, who is retiring.

Global investment firm T Rowe Price expanded its Australian distribution team. T Rowe Price appointed Ben Daly as institutional-focused relationship manager in Sydney, Richard Li as senior product manager based in Sydney, Lottie Ridley, who has relocated from London to Sydney, as relationship manager, and Shane Zabiegala as a relationship manager focusing on the Victorian and Tasmanian intermediary markets, based in Melbourne.

UBS confirmed that Julie Koo, head of the Swiss bank’s institutional client coverage team for North Asia at the asset management division, has resigned. Koo left UBS Asset Management in February 2018.
State Street Global Advisors, the asset management arm of US-headquartered State Street, appointed private banking industry figure Betty Ng as managing director and chief operating officer for Asia ex-Japan. The role was newly-created. Ng oversees business and infrastructure development, and supports how strategic and growth initiatives for SSGA in the region are put to work. Based in Hong Kong, Ng reports to June Wong, head of Asia ex-Japan at SSGA.

Previously, Ng worked at Agricultural Bank of China, where she was general manager of private wealth management in Hong Kong. Prior to this, she spent seven years at Standard Chartered Bank serving in a number of senior positions, including chief operating officer of private banking, North East Asia, and general manager of wealth management and Priority Banking. She was previously head of wealth management at Citibank Hong Kong and head of institutional sales for Jardine Fleming in Asia.

Citi Private Bank appointed Rudolf Hitsch as North Asia head, Jyrki Rauhio as South Asia head, and Akbar Shah as head of business development. These newly-created roles report to regional head Steven Lo and are effective from 1 February 2018.

Hitsch who heads the offshore private bank business with clients from China and Taiwan, added on coverage for Hong Kong in his new role. Rudolf has more than 18 years of experience in the China market. Rauhio, who is head of investment finance for the private bank in Asia, has coverage for ASEAN, Australia, New Zealand, and global India in his new role. He has worked at Citi for the past 23 years in a number of markets and in various relationship and franchise management roles around the world. Shah is responsible for client acquisition and the establishment of the Asia-Pacific advisory board. Shah has been at Citi for around 30 years within the relationship and wealth management business.

The current global market manager for ASEAN, Jessica Poh,  reports to Jyrki Rauhio, and is responsible for developing new and deepening mega-wealth client relationships within the South Asia region.
Zedra, the trust, corporate and fund services group, appointed Lisa Tan as head of corporate services of its Singapore office. Tan has over 10 years' experience working with both private clients and corporate entities. At KPMG, she specialised in corporate income tax compliance and advisory work for large multinational companies.

St James’s Place Wealth Management Asia appointed Jonathan Asherson OBE as a senior advisor to its Asia advisory board. Asherson was previously regional director for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Pacific at Rolls-Royce, and held positions in Siemens' industrial power business in China, Malaysia, Germany and the US. He is the non-executive Chairman and Adviser of Rolls-Royce Singapore; an independent director of Semcorp Industries; a director of Genting Singapore and the current chairman of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce.

Ingrid Wijaja, former team head of Indonesia at HSBC, who left that firm in November, joined Deutsche Bank as a desk head covering Southeast Asia in Singapore. She is a MD. The appointment followed shortly after the bank hired two teams to its operations in Asia. The first team of four, led by group head Jonathan Ng, joined Deutsche Bank WM from BNP Paribas Wealth Management Singapore. Ng reports to Kin-Mun Kwong, head of wealth management coverage, Southeast Asia. Ng was joined by two relationship managers, Rachel Salomon and Jonathan Tanudjaja, and a service assistant.

The second team of two, led by Gregory Goh, joined Deutsche Bank WM from Nomura Singapore. Goh reports to Malcolm Tay, group head, Southeast Asia for wealth management. Goh is joined by a relationship manager Greta Tang.

EY, the global professional services and accountancy firm, named Pat Winter as its Asia-Pacific area managing partner. Winter has more than 30 years' of experience in the professional services industry, with 19 years as a partner at EY. He was most recently EY Asia-Pacific deputy area managing partner. Roles have included leadership positions in the region, supporting companies from emerging, mid-sized and fast-growth companies to large, public organizations in Australia and Hong Kong, and globally, large private equity houses. He has also led account teams and business development and serves on the EY global investment committee as well as the EY Asia-Pacific area operating executive committee. He succeeds Steven Phan, who will retire from EY. Winter joined EY Australia in Adelaide in 1994 and has lived and worked in London, Sydney and Hong Kong. 

Generali Global Corporate & Commercial, part of Italian financial services group Generali, named Marco Bovolini as head of client and broker relationship management, based in Hong Kong. Bovolini has worked in Europe and Asia. Previously, he held the position as GC&C head of broker relationship management for Hong Kong. He started his career with the Generali Group focusing on the German and Austrian operations. In 2014, he moved to Asia, helping to reposition Generali’s presence in Hong Kong through the set-up of Generali Life (Hong Kong) Limited.

PineBridge Investments appointed Michelle White as head of consultant relations for Asia, based in Singapore. She oversees PineBridge’s consultant relations effort across Asia. White previously worked at Capital International where she held various roles focused on consultant relations and business development throughout her 11-year tenure. In her most recent position as director of financial intermediaries for Singapore and SE Asia, she was responsible for developing the firm’s financial intermediaries business across Asia as well as managing relationships with top-tier global consultants and institutions. Prior to this, she was a business development associate focused solely on managing consultant relations and institutional clients in Europe. In this newly created role, White has a dual reporting line into Rajeev Mittal, chief executive for Asia and Jason Fisher, global head of consultant relations.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management hired two teams to its operations in Asia. The first team of four, led by group head Jonathan Ng, joined Deutsche Bank WM from BNP Paribas Wealth Management Singapore. Ng reports to Kin-Mun Kwong, head of wealth management coverage, Southeast Asia. Ng is joined by two relationship managers, Rachel Salomon and Jonathan Tanudjaja, and a service assistant.

Avaloq grouped together its regional service and software offering in Asia under the leadership of Chris Beukers, who became managing director for the region. Meanwhile, Peter Scott, who has been with Avaloq since 2013, decided to leave the company. He was involved in setting up the Singapore service centre, creating three new regional offices in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong and forging deals with customers including Maybank, Deutsche Bank, Citic, Bank of Asia and Crestone. Beukers has more than 25 years working in the Asia-Pacific region, and in other parts of the world. Before joining Avaloq, he has served as the executive vice president and general manager of the Asia-Pacific Business Group at Pactera Technology International. At Pactera, he has led a team of more than 700 professionals across Asia with a focus on blue-chip customers in the strategic markets Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Old Mutual International, part of Old Mutual Wealth, appointed Bryan Pee as a sales specialist, based in Singapore. Pee joined Old Mutual International from Bank of China, where he gained experience in product, distribution and proposition design. Pee has previous distribution experience at Zurich International Life.

EFG International nominated Fong Seng Tee for election to its board of directors and will chair its Asian advisory board, which will be established by the end of this year. The new advisory board provides guidance and advice to support the bank’s growth strategy in Asia.  

Adams Street Partners, which is a private markets investment firm working across a number of regions, set up an office in Seoul, South Korea. As part of the development, Chris Cho joined the 45-year-old firm as principal. He previously worked at Lazard Asset Management, where he was vice president in its sales and marketing teams. He has also worked at Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management and Mirae Asset Global Investments.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's chief risk officer, Nigel Williams, was to retire at the end of March, completing a 33-year career in banking. Williams joined ANZ following the 2004 acquisition of The National Bank of New Zealand. At ANZ he has held a number of leadership roles including MD for institutional, corporate and commercial banking in New Zealand, and MD for institutional business in Australia. Since 2011, Williams has been ANZ’s CRO and a member of the group executive committee. Among other roles, Williams has been a director of ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited and Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank.

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of UK-listed Aviva, appointed Adeline Ng as head of Asian fixed income, and Alice Wu as analyst in the same area. The two hires are based in Singapore. In her new role, Ng reports to Dan James, global head of fixed income. Wu reports to Ng. Previously, Ng was head of Asian fixed income at BNP Paribas Asset Management between 2008 and October 2017. She joined BNP AM in December 2001 as a portfolio manager, and held the position of head of Singapore fixed income from 2005 to 2008. Her career also includes roles at John  Hancock International and OUB Asset Management. Wu previously worked at BNP AM between April 2014 and October 2017, initially as a portfolio analyst before being promoted to fixed income analyst in March 2016. 

As part of the changes, Jethro Goodchild, head of Asian credit, left Aviva Investors at the end of December to pursue other opportunities.

Exiger, a regulatory, financial crime, risk and compliance company, appointed Dean Ward as vice president and head of business development for the Asia-Pacific region, based in the firm’s Hong Kong office. Previously, Ward joined led the risk solutions sales specialist team for Thomson Reuters. Ward has held senior business development roles, overseeing regional sales teams throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to Thomson Reuters, Ward held management and research positions with IntegraScreen and Hill & Associates.

Standard Chartered appointed Jimmy Chang as head of wealth markets, products and sales for Hong Kong. In this role, he reports to Alex Welch, global head of wealth markets, products, sales and managed investments, and Stephen Man, head of wealth management, Hong Kong. He has more than 30 years’ experience in banking and finance, and has held senior roles at UBS, ABN AMRO and Citibank. 
Julius Baer appointed Chew Mun-Yew as new market head of Taiwan and group head of Greater China. Based in Singapore, Mun-Yew is responsible for growing and strengthening the bank’s franchise in the Taiwan market. Mun-Yew bhas 20 years' financial services and joins from UBS Wealth Management, where he was most recently Taiwan country head.