With big changes at one of Australia's embattled banks and other moves during June, the month was a busy one for the Asian wealth management industry.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia split its wealth management and mortgage broking businesses, and started to review its business operations, and made several top-level appointments, amid recent compliance breaches. It named six new executives. 

The bank was hunting for a chief financial officer, considering candidates from within and outside the bank and a permanent hire was scheduled to be announced on 8 August. In May CBA said Rob Jesudason had resigned as CFO. It named Alan Docherty, previously chief financial officer for institutional banking and markets, as Jesudason’s acting replacement at the time. 

Nigel Williams was been named as chief risk officer, joining on 5 November this year. He has more than 30 years of experience in banking, including 15 years at ANZ as chief risk officer and previously head of institutional banking in Australia and in New Zealand. 

David Cohen was appointed deputy CEO, moving from his prior chief risk officer role, and is also joining on 5 November 2018. In this new role, Cohen will be responsible for: strengthening group customer relations and customer advocate functions; leading the demerger of the Colonial First State Group, and the M&A team; and assisting Comyn with group-wide initiatives. Cohen has more than 20 years of banking and wealth management experience, previously serving as general counsel for CBA and prior to that at AMP.

Pascal Boillat made group executive of enterprise services and chief information officer, with responsibility for all technology and operations, and will join on 1 October 2018. He has more than 30 years of experience, most recently at Deutsche Bank where he was global group chief information officer. Prior to this, Boillat was head of operations and technology for Fannie Mae, and before that worked at Citi. 

Sian Lewis was appointed group executive for human resources; Lewis takes up the role from 1 August 2018. She joined CBA in 2014. Prior to joining CBA, Sian spent nine years at Westpac working across retail and business banking, including acting as head of NSW retail network. 

Andrew Hinchliff was named group executive for institutional banking and markets, taking effect from 1 August 2018. He joined CBA in 2015 as executive general manager for global markets after more than 15 years in global institutional banking and markets roles with Goldman Sachs, and earlier at Credit Suisse First Boston.

Angus Sullivan was appointed group executive for retail banking services, taking effect from 1 July 2018. Prior to this, he was acting group executive for retail banking services and joined CBA in 2012.
EFG Bank, part of Zurich-listed EFG International, confirmed that Kong Eng Huat, its Singapore branch chief executive since December 2011, was retiring from the post at the end of 2018. Prior to EFG, he was managing director, VantageCapital Consultancy, in Singapore, for one year, and prior to this, was head of Southeast Asia, South Asia and Australia, at Merrill Lynch.

FFG also appointed Oliver Balmelli as the head of private banking for Singapore and Richard Straus as the head of private banking for Hong Kong. Balmelli was previously EFG’s co-head of private banking for Singapore. Straus, an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience, joins this week from Bank Julius Baer and he reports to Kees Stoute, who is the CEO of EFG Hong Kong.

Luxembourg-based investment house Lemanik Asset Management named Alessandro Silvestro as managing director in Asia-Pacific. Silvestro is based in the firm’s recently-opened office in Hong Kong. He reports to group chief executive Phillippe Meloni, according to AsiaAsset. Silvestro was previously with Standard Chartered Hong Kong, where he was head of sales, focusing on the insurance segment in Asia.

Christophe Aba, JP Morgan Private Bank's managing director and regional head of investments for Southeast Asia, moved to the US, to be head of investments in Mexico. Diana Robinson, head of equities for Europe, Middle East and Africa, replaced Aba, moving from the bank’s London office and reporting to Chris Blum, head of investments for Asia. Aba has worked with JP Morgan in Asia for more than a decade, operating from Singapore and Hong Kong.

Nikko Asset Management promoted Michael De Cesare as portfolio manager in its New Zealand equities team. He joined the firm in 2012, and has eight years’ experience working in the financial services sector.

Crossbridge Capital Asia, the investment firm, appointed Hanna Tantoco as its marketing chief, overseeing operations across the Asia-Pacific region. Tantoco has more than 10 years of marketing experience in the banking and wealth management sectors. She was most recently the marketing business partner for Asia-Pacific at insurance company Aetna International. Prior to this, she spent most of her career leading marketing initiatives in banks such as Standard Chartered Bank in the Philippines and in Singapore and OCBC Bank.

Lazard Asset Management appointed Shen Tan as managing director for its Hong Kong office. He reports to Nathan Paul, chief business officer of Lazard AM. Prior to this role, Tan was a managing director at Capital Group in Hong Kong for 10 months, and before that, a partner and global head of sales for Hong Kong-based Income Partners Asset Management.

National Australia Bank which, like its peers, has been rapped by regulators over its business practices, appointed Clare Petre as the new “independent customer advocate” for clients of its wealth products, services and advice. Her role expands the bank’s focus on how customer complaints and processes are handled, giving an independent voice to NAB clients. The role, created in May 2015, was developed by NAB in its Customer Response Initiative (CRI) set up to tackle poor advice from 1 January 2009 to 30 June 2015 that led to compensation payments. Petre follows NAB’s first wealth customer advocate, Professor Dimity Kingsford-Smith, who returned to her full time professional role as Professor of Law at the University of NSW, having completed her tenure with NAB.

State Street Global Advisors, the asset management arm of State Street, appointed Marcus Miholich as managing director and head of capital markets for Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific regions. Miholich continues to be based in London and reports to Tim Coyne, global head of capital markets for the global SPDR business. He joined the flobal SPDR business in October 2017 from Haitong Securities, where he was managing director.  He was most recently responsible for State Street exchange-traded funds' Nordic business development strategy.

Global asset manager Janus Henderson Investors appointed Scott Steele as head of Asia distribution, based in Singapore. Steele has 29 years’ experience in asset management, most recently at PIMCO, where he was executive vice-president, head of Hong Kong and Singapore global wealth management. He was also previously chief investment officer of BMO Mutual Funds. Alexander Henderson, who previously oversaw Janus Henderson distribution in Asia, returned to London. Henderson continues to report to Phil Wagstaff, global head of distribution, working with him on key global client relationships.

Barings Alternative Investments, part of Barings, appointed Pius Ho as managing director across the real estate, private equity and real assets part of its business. He is based in the firm’s Hong Kong office. Prior to this role, Ho was the founder and chief executive of Moonbridge Capital. He has also held senior leadership positions in the Middle East and Asia with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Citi Property Investors and LaSalle Investment Management.

UK-based River and Mercantile Asset Management appointed Tim Horan as managing director of its newly-launched Australia and New Zealand operation. Horan worked previously at Westpac, where he headed the sports and entertainment business in private and premium banking for more than seven years. Prior to this, he was head of capital raising at Meridian Funds Management. He is also a former Australian rugby union international.

Lazard Asset Management appointed Shen Tan, who has joined as a managing director in Hong Kong. Tan concentrates on distribution throughout Asia. Prior to joining LAM in Hong Kong, Tan was a managing director at Capital Group, where he was responsible for its Asia ex-Japan institutional business. 

ANZ appointed Adrian Went as group treasurer, reporting to chief financial officer, Michelle Jablko, effective July. He is based in Melbourne. Went had been responsible for credit and capital management for ANZ’s financial institutions group. He has held senior treasury and risk roles at ANZ including acting group treasurer, head of balance sheet management and head of market risk New Zealand.

JP Morgan Asset Management appointed Rob O’Rahilly as global co-head of asset management solutions. He reports to Chris Willcox, chief executive of JPMAM, and is based in London. O’Rahilly replaced former global co-head of solutions Jed Laskowitz, who transitioned to the role of CEO, intelligent digital solutions. Mike O’Brien continued as global co-head of solutions alongside O’Rahilly, having relocated from London to New York. O’Rahilly and O’Brien oversee business development and solutions design. Patrick Thomson, head of international institutional at JPMAM, succeeded O’Brien as EMEA CEO of JPMAM.  

O’Rahilly has spent more than 20 years at JPMorgan Chase. Most recently, he was chief investment officer for EMEA and Asia, with responsibility for investment portfolio strategy, asset allocation and origination of the company's structural investment portfolio (ex-US) of more than $130 billion and managed a team of 60 investment professionals in more than 10 locations. 

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, appointed Al Denholm as chief investment officer of solutions. He is based in London and report to Euan Munro, chief executive of Aviva Investors. Denholm has over 30 years’ experience in asset management. He joins from Prudential Portfolio Management Group and prior to this, was previously head of multi-asset client solutions at BlackRock for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

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BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed Yolande Escher as head of Greater China, based in Hong Kong. Escher reports to Jeroen Kwist, head of international wealth management and is responsible for growing the BNY Mellon Wealth Management activities in Asia. Before joining BNY Mellon in 2014, Escher started her career at UBS Wealth Management in Zurich, Switzerland and London. In 2008, Escher joined Barclays Wealth and was a desk head for UK resident non-domiciled clients.

Legal & General Investment Management appointed David Hoantee Peng as head of Asia-Pacific ex-Japan. Based in Hong Kong, he reports to Roger Bartley, vice chairman of investments, based in London. Peng is responsible for developing LGIM’s business in the APAC region ex-Japan. He has three decades of experience in the Asian financial-services sector and joins LGIM from Standard Life Aberdeen, where he was head of Asia for more than seven years.

BNP Paribas Securities Services appointed Diana Senanayake as head of Singapore. The new head of Singapore is responsible for the operation, and will look to expand the segment in the region. She reports to Phillipe Benoit, BNP Paribas Securities Services head of Asia-Pacific, and Pierre Veyres, BNP Paribas chief executive for Singapore. Prior to BNP Paribas, she was at RBC Investor and Treasury Services in Luxembourg, where she was recently managing director for global client coverage. Senanayake replaced Mostapha Tahiri, who was appointed head of institutional investors and digital transformation for the APAC region in September 2017. Tahiri remains based in Singapore for his regional role, and reports to Benoit.

Macquarie Investment Management appointed Carl Jacobsohn as head of Asia business and Bas van Buuren as head of Asia distribution, based in Hong Kong. Jacobsohn succeeded Axel Maier, who retired from the firm earlier this year. He has been with Macquarie Investment Management for more than 10 years, most recently as head of the Korea business. In addition to his new responsibilities, he continued to lead the Macquarie Investment Management Korea business. Reporting to Jacobsohn, van Buuren focuses on the distribution strategy in Asia, including identifying client investment needs, working with the existing distribution team on potential new channels, and helping to connect the region to the firm’s overall global distribution initiatives. van Buuren has more than 18 years of experience as a distribution leader in Asia. He previously worked for Aegon Asset Management as the regional head in Asia. Before joining Aegon, he held a variety of leadership roles with ING Investment Management, most recently as head of the Asia client group.

The Fry Group, a global financial planning group, appointed Huw Wedlock as chief executive of its Singapore operation. In this role, Wedlock leads the company’s operation in Singapore and drive its expansion throughout Asia. He replace David Pugh, who after running The Fry Group’s business in Singapore for eight years, returned to the UK later this year to join the group’s board in a global sales and marketing role. Wedlock has 20 years’ industry experience. He joined from Old Mutual International, where he has spent 15 years working with financial advisors in multiple jurisdictions, most recently as area manager, ASEAN, for the past five years. Previously, he worked as a business consultant with Skandia UK prior to the acquisition by Old Mutual, and prior to that he worked for Friends Provident for three years as a business consultant.

Pictet Wealth Management confirmed that its chief executive, Christian Gellerstad, will leave his role in September. However, it stressed that the departure of Gellerstad was not caused by the arrival of Boris Collardi, as reported in the media. A finews.asia report of 13 June, said: “The move is the first since ex-Julius Baer CEO Boris Collardi started as a partner of the Swiss private bank”. The firm has stated that Gellerstad’s decision to leave the role as CEO took place before the arrival of Collardi. Gellerstad continues to chair the board of directors of Pictet Bank & Trust in The Bahamas, as well as sitting on the boards of Pictet & Cie (Europe) in Luxembourg and Bank Pictet (Asia) in Singapore.

PGIM Real Estate, which is the real estate investment business of Prudential Financial, appointed Stephen O’Keeffe as an executive director in Australia. O’Keeffe is responsible for sourcing real estate debt investments and managing relationships with prospective borrowers and partners in Australia. He is based in Sydney and reports to Steve Bulloch, head of Australia. Before joining PGIM Real Estate, O’Keeffe was a senior director in the debt and structured finance team at CBRE.

Malaysia-based CIMB Group appointed Hendra Lembong as its chief fintech officer, having previously been chief executive of group transaction banking from July 2016. Lembong started his career at CIMB in 2013 as chief of transaction banking for CIMB Niaga, Indonesia. He was also MD, regional head of cash management, APAC at JPMorgan.

AMP appointed John O’Sullivan as a non-executive director. O’Sullivan has held senior executive roles within financial services and legal and regulatory risk as well as experience in fields such as mergers, acquisitions and capital markets. He was most recently executive chairman, investment banking and capital markets, of Credit Suisse Australia. Prior to that, he was general counsel of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia after a long career at Herbert Smith Freehills including as a partner of the firm.

Julius Baer appointed Vicki Lee as Group Head Greater China – a new role by the bank. She reports to David Shick, head of private banking for Greater China at the Zurich-listed firm. Lee is based in Hong Kong. With more than 20 years of private banking experience, Lee was previously country team head, China Market, at UBS Wealth Management, where she had worked since 2006. Before that, Lee held senior wealth management roles at HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank.

Citi Private Bank confirmed that Debashish Dutta Gupta, a senior figure who most recently was globally in charge of its Indian client segment, has left the US organisation. Prior roles have included being Asia-Pacific head of investments for wealth management.

The Fry Group, a global financial advisory firm specialising in working with UK expats around the world, appointed Stephen Kelly as senior consultant in Singapore. Kelly leads The Fry Group’s Asia tax offering, working with the wider team including local tax consultant Stephanie Chan, based in Hong Kong, Jasmine Ee, Tax associate in Singapore. The new appointee has more than 19 years’ in personal tax, specialising in residency issues and international payroll. Kelly was previously UK tax and payroll manager at Immedis, a global payroll and employment tax specialist firm based in Dublin.

The Trident Trust Group appointed Mark O’Sullivan as managing director of its Hong Kong office. O'Sullivan is a qualified Chartered Accountant, experienced in the finance and the trust and corporate services industries. His career includes leadership responsibility as chief operating officer and financial controller of the trust and securities services division of a global bank, and most recently as regional MD for North
Asia for an international provider of corporate and trust services. He reports to Markus Grossmann, regional MD for Trident Trust’s offices in Asia.

Indosuez Wealth Group named a new chief executive, Jacques Prost, to take over from Paul de Leusse, who left earlier in May to join telecoms network Orange. Prost is a member of Crédit Agricole’s management committee. Since 2013, he has supervised global markets and financing activities as deputy chief executive of Crédit Agricole corporate and investment bank. The executive began his career in the corporate department of Crédit Lyonnais in London in 1986. In 1988, he joined Banque Paribas, where he held a number of positions in the European real estate finance and project finance divisions. In 1996, he was appointed head of project finance at Paribas in Milan. He joined the Crédit Agricole group in 2000 as head of structured finance for corporate and investment banking in Italy. In 2008, he became head of the real estate and hotels division in Paris. In November 2011, he was appointed global head of structured finance.

Australian firm Ironbark Asset Management appointed Alan Kenny as head of client solutions and Scott Baker as a strategic accounts and research relationship manager. Kenny is responsible for executing the Ironbark strategy for existing and new product development as well as working with the corporate trustee business.