A roundup of senior moves in the APAC region's wealth management sector.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management (SuMi TRUST) named Takahiro Kobayashi as its new president and CEO. Kobayashi replaced Yoshio Hishida, the firm’s president and CEO since 2018, as part of a phased transition of responsibilities. Hishida remained as a non-executive director and took on the role of global asset management officer for the SuMi TRUST Group. Kobayashi, who has 20 years’ industry experience, joined Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in 2004 and became an executive officer of SuMi TRUST Asset Management in 2023.

Asset manager First Sentier Group named Harry Moore as CEO, effective 1 January 2026. He is based in Australia. Moore’s appointment followed current CEO Mark Steinberg’s intention to step down at the end of the year after seven years with the group. Moore began his career at First Sentier Group in 2010.

OCBC, parent of Bank of Singapore, appointed Carina Lee as group chief risk officer and a member of its management committee, effective 1 January 2026. Lee, who has been chief credit officer of the wholesale banking arm, will succeed Noel Gerald Cruz, who is retiring at the end of 2025 after a 36-year career with the bank. Lee joined OCBC in January 2021.

Toronto-headquartered Sun Life Financial appointed Sujoy Ghosh as chief executive officer, high net worth. He reports to Manjit Singh, president, Sun Life Asia, and is based in Singapore. Ghosh leads Sun Life’s global high net worth (HNW) business in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bermuda. He has 27 years’ experience in leadership roles spanning insurance and banking across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. He joined from Citi, where he was most recently head of global insurance and Asia head, business development – Citi Wealth, responsible for the bank’s global insurance operations and business development in Asia.

Goodwin, a global law firm originating in the US, appointed Youjung Byon as partner in the private investment funds practice in Hong Kong. Byon, who has more than 15 years’ experience, predominantly advises Asia-based private fund sponsors on the formation of private investment vehicles, including buyout, growth capital, debt, venture capital and real estate funds.

Sun Hung Kai & Co said Natalie Ngai joined Sun Hung Kai Capital Partners (SHKCP) as director, reporting to Kelvin Cheung, CEO of Sun Hung Kai Capital Partners. Prior to joining SHKCP, Ngai was vice president at Macquarie Asset Management in Singapore.

DWS appointed Matthias Naumann to head its direct real estate business in Asia-Pacific. He is based in Sydney and reports to Clemens Schäfer, head of real estate, APAC and Europe, in Frankfurt. Naumann, who joined DWS in 2013, has 20 years’ experience. He has covered APAC as CIO for real estate since 2021, relocating to Sydney from DWS’ Frankfurt headquarters in early 2024.

Principal Asset Management appointed Koichiro Maeda as its new head of Japan, based in Tokyo. He joined from DWS and has more than 30 years’ experience in real estate investment, alternative asset management and investment banking. His career includes leadership roles at Mitsui Fudosan, Morgan Stanley and PGIM. He succeeded Hitoshi Itagaki, who assumed the role of chairman of Principal Japan’s board of directors. Itagaki had led Principal Asset Management Japan since 2007.

Citigroup appointed Lee Lung-Nien as its Singapore country officer and banking head. He replaced Tibor Pandi, who moved to other opportunities within the firm. Lee reports to Amol Gupte, Citi’s head of Asia South. He has been with Citi for 35 years.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation appointed Sridhar Srinivasan as its newly-established transaction banking chief operating officer. Based in Singapore, he works with Shinichiro Yamazaki, head of the global transaction banking department for Asia-Pacific. Srinivasan has worked for more than two decades in financial services, including at Citigroup, Standard Chartered and Accenture.

Klay Group, a boutique financial services firm, appointed Nikita Jain as managing director and deputy CEO, joining the leadership team of its India business, Klay Wealth. Previously, Jain was at JP Morgan for 17 years, where she worked in FX and fixed income sales, M&A and capital markets.

Milan-listed Azimut Group appointed Stefano Chao as head of Asia and chief executive of Azimut Singapore, reporting to Giorgio Medda, group CEO. Chao, who joined Azimut Group in 2011, served as general manager and legal representative of Azimut China.

Société Générale appointed Alvaro Huete as country head for Singapore and Southeast Asia, based in Singapore. Huete has 28 years’ sector experience.

LGT Wealth India appointed seven senior professionals from Barclays Private Bank.
Sunit Jain is co-head, client coverage for the private client business, based in Delhi. Rakesh Kripalani, based in Mumbai, is the other co-head.
Other joiners: Anirudh Chowdhry is an expert on global Indian families; Harpreet Sawhney has expertise in delivering corporate and private banking solutions to large UHNW families; Manisha Saxena has longstanding client relationships and guides marketing initiatives to boost links between India and Singapore; Farzana Irani has experience in private markets and credit; and Vishal Khetan focuses on cross-border client relationships, especially along the India–UK and global corridors.

Lighthouse Canton appointed Pranob Gupta as managing director – business head, India alternatives (credit and hybrid strategies). Most recently, Gupta served as managing director and chief investment officer at JM Financial’s credit alternatives platform.

After more than 30 years’ service, Sally Wong, CEO of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (HKIFA), retired. To ensure a smooth transition, Bruno Lee was appointed as consultant. Lee founded BIG Family Limited and is a financial veteran with more than 30 years’ experience in the asset and wealth management industry.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management appointed former HSBC executive Kah Yi Chung as head of private and alternative investments, Asia. Chung, who is based in Singapore, reports directly to Shafali Sachdev, head of investment services, Asia-Pacific. At HSBC, where Chung worked for seven years, she was head of alternatives for South Asia; prior to that, she worked at Partners Group and Eaton Partners.

Howden, a global insurance intermediary group, named Rebecca Poon as chief client officer, joining its Asia leadership team. Poon is based in Hong Kong. Most recently, she was managing director for Marsh in Hong Kong, following a 42-year career at the firm.

Hang Seng Bank said Diana Cesar returned from her assignment as executive director and CEO of Hang Seng Bank to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation as vice chairman, Hong Kong. In this role, she advises the co-CEOs of Asia and the Middle East at HSBC. Luanne Lim, CEO of HSBC Hong Kong, was made executive director and CEO of Hang Seng Bank.

The strategic investments team within the markets segment at Citigroup appointed Nicholas Chin from JP Morgan to lead Japan, Asia North and Australia, and the Asia South team. Chin reports to Siris Singh, head of markets strategic investments. At JP Morgan, Chin spent more than eight years in London, where he was responsible for venture and growth equity investments in the fintech sector.

Vivienne Chia, global head of investment solutions for Bank of Singapore, resigned from the bank. Chia, who had been at the Singapore-headquartered bank, part of OCBC, for four years, was previously at UBS for more than 20 years. She started her career at Citigroup.

Standard Chartered appointed Roger Charles as head of sustainability initiatives, coverage, in the corporate and investment banking (CIB) team. He was previously at DBS Bank and is based in Singapore.

VP Bank named Michel Hofstetter as head of intermediaries and head of its Singapore private banking operation. Hofstetter joined the bank in 2022. Prior to his new role, he was head of intermediaries for Singapore from July 2024; before this, he was head of intermediaries international and an executive director for almost two years.

Lombard Odier appointed Lucien Jeannin as head of strategy and business transformation, private clients. Jeannin is based in Singapore and reports to Omar Shokur, regional head for Asia, private clients. The firm also added Caroline Lee, senior relationship manager, who reports to Alfred Low, head of North Asia markets, private clients; and Justin Kwok, who will support the expansion of client relationships across Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on Thailand. Kwok reports to Andrea Meierhofer, head of Southeast Asia market, private clients.

St James’s Place appointed John Elkovich as chief executive for Singapore. Elkovich reports to Oliver Wickham, partnership director for Asia and the Middle East. He has more than three decades’ experience in financial services spanning wealth management, insurance and private banking. He was appointed interim CEO of the Singapore office in April this year.

Deutsche Bank appointed Vitita Theeraporn as director in the Thailand team in its Southeast Asia region at Deutsche Bank Private Bank. Based in Singapore and reporting to Paul Handley, Theeraporn brings more than 16 years’ experience from Siam Commercial Bank.

A UBS team head covering the non-resident Indian (NRI) segment left the Swiss firm. Bikram Sen departed after more than a year at UBS; he also spent almost four years at Credit Suisse (subsequently bought by UBS in March 2023). Prior to this, Sen was a team head with the Global South Asia and Middle East business of Bank of Singapore.

Charles Russell Speechlys appointed three partners in its Hong Kong and London offices. Francis Li and Wendy Fong joined the corporate team in Hong Kong, and Jue Jun Lu joined the commercial dispute resolution team in London.