A summary of the main moves in the wealth management sector for APAC in August. Among the highlights was the announcement of a new overall CEO for DBS in Singapore.

Eastspring Investments appointed Dominic Wong as regional head of intermediary sales. Based in Hong Kong, Wong is responsible for leading and growing Eastspring’s intermediary business. He reports to chief distribution officer Salman Haider. Wong, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the asset management industry in Asia, was most recently head of intermediary distribution, Asia ex-Japan, at BNY Mellon Investment Management.

Lighthouse Canton made several appointments to add to client coverage from North Asia and Southeast Asia. Stella Lau was appointed as managing director, wealth advisory where she will be strengthening the company's client base and leading the growth strategy for North Asia. Previously, she was greater China market group head at Deutsche Bank and has served in similar roles, managing and expanding North Asia market teams at JP Morgan, UBS AG, and Credit Suisse AG. Charlene Lin was elevated to managing director, strategic gowth – North Asia and Southeast Asia.

Phoenix Property Investors, a large private real estate manager in Asia Pacific, appointed Kwanghyun (Tommy) Kim as managing director and head of South Korea. He has over 26 years of experience in real estate transactions and projects ranging from commercial, residential, logistics, hospitality and mixed-use residential properties. Prior to Phoenix, Kim was CEO of Hangang Asset Management. He also served as division head of global investment at Samsung SRA Asset Management and at Korea Telecom consulting for its real estate arm.

Emirates NBD appointed Sameer Deshpande as its wealth management head in Singapore. Before Emirates NBD, Deshpande was global head of investments e-sales at Citi Global Wealth, at Citigroup, also in Singapore; he served in various roles at the US bank since 2016.

Julius Baer appointed Ashwin Jayaram as team head, global non-resident Indians business, in Singapore. Jayaram is based in Singapore and reports to Vijay Solomon, group head, global NRI.

Jayaram served in various leadership roles focused on the South Asian diaspora at leading institutions including Bank J Safra Sarasin, Credit Suisse, and Coutts. Most recently, he served as CEO and managing director at a multi-family office – licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore – that serves UHNW clients across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

Vontobel appointed former BlackRock senior figure Clarabelle Ho as head of intermediary clients Asia. In all, Ho has more than 15 years’ experience in private and retail bank wholesale fund distribution in Southeast Asia and wider Asia region. At BlackRock, Ho was responsible for intermediary distribution as part of the wealth APAC client business team in Singapore. Previously, she was at UBS Asset Management.

VP Bank shut its physical presence in Hong Kong to focus on Singapore, while Pamela Phua, chief executive and Heline Lam, chief operating officer, left VP Bank in Hong Kong. VP Bank said the office closure is not related to its relationship with China-based Hywin Wealth Management, in which it bought a 3.4 per cent stake in 2021. Phua joined VP Bank in July 2021 after two years at Pictet as head of Asia family office. She worked at Julius Baer and Credit Suisse in their private banking units. Lam became COO in April this year after more than three years as chief of staff in Hong Kong. VP Bank established its Hong Kong office in 2006.

Lighthouse Canton appointed three senior executives to join its leadership: Amrit Singh, Henrik Aslaksen, and Balaji Prasanna. They founded AWM Capital after their stints at banks such as Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. Singh and Prasanna are based in Singapore, while Aslaksen is based in London.

Capital Group appointed Stella Xu as head of institutional business for Greater China. Xu is based in Hong Kong and reports to Toby Chan, head of client group for Greater China. This role was previously managed from Singapore; it is now based in Hong Kong to provide better support for clients in Greater China and the region. Prior to this, Xu was head of institutional sales, Hong Kong and mainland China, at Fidelity International. She has more than 18 years’ industry experience in asset management.

Florence Wong was named as the new head of institutional sales for Hong Kong and Macau at BNP Paribas Asset Management. Wong, who has more than 20 years of industry experience in asset management and finance, succeeded Ross Lu, who moved to a new role within the BNP Paribas Group. Lu was in this post since 2018.

London-headquartered FINE+RARE Group – an international marketplace for wine, spirits and collectable experiences – made 10 new hires across its global portfolio, including hires in Asia. Hong Kong-based Jose Lau joined as its new sales director Asia. With a 14-year tenure in the industry, Lau came from Berry Bros & Rudd where he worked as head of sales, private clients. The firm also hired Christie Chan as customer experience executive in Hong Kong.

NEBA Private Clients, a division of UK-based wealth, asset management and financial services group Team, appointed Ciprian Bratu as a partner. Bratu is based in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia.

Jaye Chiu was named regional head of private banking at Bank of East Asia, based in Hong Kong. He had previously been head of investment products and the advisory department since July 2020. Before BEA, he was managing director, regional head of investment management at the private bank, at BMO Private Banking, in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Federated Hermes appointed Elizabeth White to join its Australian and Asia-Pacific distribution team. White is based in Sydney and reports to Gary Horton, Federated Hermes’ head of distribution for Australia and New Zealand. White is responsible for aligning and distributing Federated Hermes’ products to meet the needs of wholesale, private bank and family office clients across the region. Her previous employers included NMG Consulting, Credit Suisse Private Bank, First Sentier Investors (formerly Colonial Global Asset Management), APN Funds Management (now DEXUS) and Macquarie Bank.

BlackRock appointed Tomoko Ueda as chief operating officer for Asia-Pacific, replacing James Raby, who moved to New York to take on the role of global head of compliance. The appointment expanded Ueda’s role, who oversees business operations in the region and leads the finance, corporate strategy and development teams to drive growth and operational efficiency. Ueda, who reports to Susan Chan, head of Asia-Pacific, has relocated to Hong Kong from Tokyo. Ueda joined BlackRock in 2022 as Asia-Pacific head of corporate strategy and development.

DBS appointed Tan Su Shan as deputy CEO, adding to her roles as group head of institutional banking. Tan succeeded Piyush Gupta as CEO who was due to retire; he has more than 35 years’ bank and wealth management experience. Besides Singapore, Tan has worked in Hong Kong, London and Tokyo. Tan, who joined DBS in 2010, built up the lender’s wealth business. Subsequently, she spent time managing the consumer banking/wealth management and the institutional banking businesses.

Union Bancaire PrivĂ©e appointed former Bank of Singapore senior figure Teresa Lee as region head for North Asia and chief executive for Hong Kong. She succeeded Ivan Wong, who is retiring. At Bank of Singapore, Lee was head of the Greater China business and later vice chair for Greater China. She was also relationship manager head, China, at Standard Chartered, and team head at ABN AMRO’s private bank. In other roles, Lee has actively supported Hong Kong's wealth management sector, notably as the former chair of the wealth management sub-committee at the Family Office Association of Hong Kong. 

Deutsche Bank appointed two market heads for its private bank’s Global South Asia & Africa franchise. Puneesh Nayar, managing director, joined as market head in Singapore; Nick Malik, re-joined the bank as market head, based in Dubai. Nayar has over 20 years of industry experience, most recently at Julius Baer where he had been a senior team head for global India since 2016. Malik returned to the bank in March from Credit Suisse. He was group head with Deutsche Bank for six years until 2022, and before that he was with Standard Chartered Private Bank in Singapore and Dubai. Both Nayar and Malik report to Rajesh Mahadevan, head of Global South Asia & Africa, for the private bank’s emerging markets business.

Citigroup appointed former DBS senior banker Yeo Wenxian as its new head of wealth for the Asia South region. She replaced Shyam Sambamurthy, who left the bank earlier this year. Yeo, who is a Singaporean, was head of DBS Treasures in the city-state.

Former senior HSBC figure Philip Kunz joined Nomura International Wealth Management as managing director – senior advisor and group head, Southeast Asia, based in Singapore. Kunz reports directly to Anurag Mahesh, head of coverage for SEA, global South Asia and Middle East at Nomura.

Most recently, Kunz was head of global private banking for South and Southeast Asia at HSBC. Before that, he was at UBS where he held senior wealth management positions, including chief operating officer of wealth management in Singapore, overseeing client management teams.

M&G Real Estate appointed Wenning Jung as director, portfolio management – fund of funds, Asia Life Fund. Based in Singapore, Wenning reports to Martin Seol, head of Asia Life Fund. Wenning, who has more than 20 years of institutional real estate investment experience and client management experience, has held senior positions and built strong relationships with institutional investors across the region. 

Raffles Family Office appointed Dr Niti Nerngchamnong as a board advisor. Nerngchamnong, who brought over 20 years of legal and business expertise experience, has served as the managing partner of NITI Law Office and NITI Academy Bangkok. 

360 ONE, an India-based wealth and asset management house, appointed Akhil Gupta as chairman of the board. He was already an independent director of the firm. Gupta took over from Nilesh Vikamsey. A chartered accountant by training, Gupta has expertise in the telecom sector, fundraising and mergers and acquisitions. He is vice chairman and whole-time director of Bharti Enterprises.

MFS Investment Management, a US-headquartered firm, appointed Emily Koh as relationship director for institutional sales for Southeast Asia. Koh, who previously worked at Wellington Management as a relationship manager, joined MFS in June.