A roundup of moves, appointments and personnel changes in the Asia-Pacific wealth management sector during November. One firm that caught the eye for senior moves was Canada-headquartered Manulife.

Raffles Family Office added two former UBS figures to its team; they are based in Hong Kong: Barry Tse, managing director, relationship management, and Cherie Liu, head of marketing and communications. Prior to RFO, Tse was an executive director at UBS, working in client advisory roles and, before that, he was a director at Julius Baer. Liu has more than two decades’ experience in the private banking and investment services sector. Before her new job, she was executive director, marketing, global wealth management at UBS. 

Knight Frank said Shishir Baijal, one of its most senior leaders and a member of the group executive board, would be taking on the additional responsibility of non-exec chair of the Asia-Pacific region from 1 April 2025.

Pictet said it is setting up an Asia desk in Zurich to serve clients from Southeast and North Asia. The group, which serves Asian clients, runs alongside its centres in Singapore and Hong Kong. It hired three team members, including Xiaodan Predeoehl, its head, from Lombard Odier. Michael R Strasser is based in Zurich; Olive Ma moved to Zurich from Hong Kong.

Manulife Wealth and Asset Management said former senior Citigroup figure Fabio Fontainha became its new wealth and asset management head in Asia. Fontainha succeeded Michael Dommermuth, who left at the end of 2024. Manulife Investment Management named Charlie Dutton, an equity investment leader with experience in Asia, as chief investment officer of global emerging market equities.

Manulife Hong Kong and Macau appointed Albert Mak as chief agency officer. He reports to Rishi Srivastava, chief agency officer, Asia, and Ivan Chan, chief distribution officer, Hong Kong and Macau. He joined the firm in 2019. Since January 2023, Mak had led the agency force’s business development and training team. Initiatives include his setting up the wealth planning team, which captures HNW business for the agency channel.

OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) appointed Josephine Lee as the head of consumer financial services. Lee heads the consumer banking and wealth management businesses across Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR. She reports to Phang Lah Hwa, regional head, global consumer financial services at OCBC and Wang Ke, head of greater China and CEO at OCBC Hong Kong. Lee, who has more than 25 years of banking and wealth management experience, was recently the alternate chief executive of Citibank (Hong Kong) and the head of Hong Kong Citigold and cards and unsecured lending sales. 

An independent non-executive director at Citibank in Hong Kong and China Securities Co, Stephen Po, was named honorary advisor to the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association. Po’s term ends in August. In previous roles, Po was executive director at the Hong Kong Insurance Authority and senior director at the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.

Saxo appointed Damian Hitchen as regional head of the Asia-Pacific and Europe, Middle East and North Africa businesses. Leading Saxo’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) segment since 2021, Hitchen has 20 years of experience in the global financial services industry. Before joining Saxo as MENA head, he was the CEO of Swissquote, based in Singapore. Prior to moving to Singapore, Hitchen established Swissquote’s regional MENA business while based in Dubai. With Hitchen in place, Mahesh Sethuraman was appointed Singapore CEO of Saxo. Hitchen and Sethuraman succeeded Adam Reynolds, who stepped down after a decade at Saxo as APAC and Singapore CEO of Saxo.

Fiera Capital, an asset manager, appointed Bradley Bester as director of investor relations, Fiera Capital (Asia). Bester, who joined from a Hong Kong-based alternative asset manager, reports to Joshua Bartlow, managing director and portfolio manager of the ANZ Real Estate Debt strategy, Fiera Capital (Asia).

Morrison, a New Zealand-headquartered infrastructure investment firm, appointed Steven Fitzgerald, currently global head of asset management, as lead operating partner. Fitzgerald had been in his previous role for 13 years. As part of the change, Rachel Drew, who joined the firm 18 years ago, stepped into the global head of asset management job.

Muzinich & Co, the the corporate credit specialist, appointed Sashi Nambiar, a former PGIM senior figure, in the newly-created role of head of financial intermediaries and wealth, Asia. He is based in Singapore and reports to Andrew Tan, chief executive, Asia-Pacific. Nambiar leads the firm’s engagement with private banks and family offices across Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, South and Southeast Asia. At PGIM, Nambiar was head of Southeast Asia.

BlackRock named Yoon Pyo Lee as its South Korea head and managing director. Based in Seoul, Lee is responsible for developing and executing a long-term business strategy. He joined from Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he served as head of South Korea.

EY appointed Joongshik Wang as EY-Parthenon Asia-Pacific leader to oversee developent and growth of EY-Parthenon, the strategy and consulting arm within the EY organisation. Wang is based in Singapore; he retains his role as EY-Parthenon Asean and Singapore leader. Prior to this, Wang was a partner at Kearney Singapore.

Citigroup appointed Jaewon Hwang as head of Citi Commercial Bank (CCB) for Korea. Hwang reports to MS Yoo, chief country officer, Citi Korea and Gunjan Kalra, head of Citi Commercial Bank for Japan, Asia North, Australia and Asia South clusters.

Swiss private banking group Compagnie Bancaire HelvĂ©tique  appointed former LGT senior figure Enid Yip as the new CEO of its Asia subsidiary. Yip is based in Hong Kong. 

Patrick Wong, who has overseen the Asia business since 2017, was appointed deputy CEO. Wong continues to manage operations, regulatory and compliance, and IT, while Yip focuses on enhancing the firm’s client offering and driving business development. Yip, who was most recently with LGT, has more than 25 years of experience in wealth management institutions in Asia. Prior to LGT, where she served as its CEO, she was a member of the board at Bank J Safra Sarasin.

Amundi appointed Florian Neto as head of investment, Asia. Based in Hong Kong, he is responsible for overseeing Amundi’s investment activities across the region, excluding Japan. Neto remains directly responsible for Amundi’s multi asset platform in Asia. From 2022, he was head of investment, Hong Kong and Taiwan and head of multi asset, Asia.

Vistra appointed Chris Collins as chief corporate development officer. Collins, based in Singapore, joined Vistra in 2023 as global head of M&A to lead the establishment of Vistra’s M&A function, including deal sourcing, execution, integration and value creation. 

Franklin Templeton said Singapore-based Manraj Sekhon, chief investment officer of Templeton Global Investments, joined its global executive committee. Sekhon works with US-based Jenny Johnson, president and CEO, Terrence Murphy, EVP and head of public markets, and other members of Franklin Templeton’s team.