A roundup of executive moves in the region's wealth management industry, with firms such as ANZ, Standard Chartered and Julius Baer featuring prominently.

Boris Collardi, CEO of Julius Baer since 2009, left to join Pictet's board. Collardi was set to move to Pictet from mid-2018 “at the latest”, Geneva-headquartered Pictet said. Collardi is jointly responsible for Pictet’s global wealth management business, alongside Rémy Best, the managing partner who has had sole charge of this division since December 2014.

Wealth management industry fintech solutions firm Privé hired a trio of managers – a chief technology officer, chief digital officer and senior country manager for Singapore. Bert-Jan van Essen was named the CTO, Dominic Gamble was named chief digital officer and Dennis Kow was appointed senior country manager for Singapore.

Before joining Privé, van Essen served as the chief executive of Dragon Wealth Asia, a fintech start-up he founded in 2012, which specializes in developing software-as-a-service solutions for financial advisors and banks. Prior to that, he had worked for 11 years at Credit Suisse, where he held various senior management positions including the chief information officer of private banking for Asia-Pacific, as well as director of global online banking and relationship management systems, and vice president of IT International.

Gamble was appointed as Privé’s chief digital officer in conjunction with the acquisition of WEALTH last year. The Asian online marketplace of wealth services for affluent and high net worth individuals was founded by Gamble in 2016. In addition to his role with Privé, Gamble continues to serve as the CEO of WEALTH. Prior to founding WEALTH, in 2012 Gamble left a 10-year career as a private banker at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank to start FINDAWEALTHMANAGER.com, the UK’s first online client acquisition website matching wealthy individuals with wealth managers.

 Kow joined Privé from Citibank, where he held numerous senior roles since 1990, including as senior VP of regional wealth management sales tools, where he oversaw the development and implementation of financial planning applications for the bank, and SVP of channels strategy for Citibank’s internet banking team.

Generali Asia, part of Italy-headquartered financial services group Generali, appointed former senior AXA manager Bruce de Broize as new head of distribution for Asia. The new appointee report to Roberto Leonardi, regional officer for Asia. De Broize is based in Hong Kong and responsible for driving growth across a number of fronts in Asia, by formulating and implementing new strategies for all distribution channels. With more than 29 years of insurance experience, de Broize has held senior management roles in life and property and casualty insurance companies in South Africa, Australia, and Asia-Pacific (in particular Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong).

BNP Paribas appointed Julien Kasparian as head of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Hong Kong. Kasparian leads the Hong Kong team, with a focus on deepening relationships with new and existing clients, and will be responsible for delivering operations and services. With 20 years’ experience at BNP Paribas Securities Services, Kasparian joins Hong Kong from the London office, where he was most recently head of sales and global relationship management, UK banks and brokers.

Australia-based financial services group Perpetual Investments appointed Amanda Gillespie as its general manager for client solutions. She previously was group chief executive at Lonsec, a financial product and investment research firm in Australia. Gillespie had been CEO at that firm for more than three years. The client solutions group was a newly-created one

UBS appointed Wiwi Gutmannsbauer as operating head for its Asian wealth management business and COO for the APAC region. He reports to Dirk Klee and Kathy Shih, with an additional reporting line into Ed Koh. He succeeds Geoffroy de Ridder, operating head for wealth management in Asia-Pacific, and Andreas Neuber, COO for the Asia-Pacific region.

During his 20-year tenure at UBS, Gutmannsbauer has held a variety of senior roles across the bank. Gutmannsbauer will relocate to Singapore from Zurich. He also plans to spend a significant amount of time in Hong Kong. Succession in his capacity as operating head for the wealth management booking centre of Switzerland and emerging markets and head of wealth management omni-channel management will be announced in due course. Also in November, UBS has opened its second university campus in China, situated at the UBS Business Solutions Center in Wuxi. 

Executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles appointed Anny Kwok has joined the firm as a partner in its financial services practice based in Hong Kong, primarily focusing on serving clients in private equity and alternative asset management. Prior to this role, Kwok worked at another international recruiter – not named in the press release from H&S - building its Asia Private Equity business. Bringing to the firm more than 15 years of industry experience and connectivity, Kwok's expertise spans different fund strategies (venture, growth, buyout, mezzanine/distressed debt, real estate, fund of funds). 

Law firm Stephenson Harwood appointed Laurence Ho, a partner, to its Hong Kong office. Ho's practice is focused on international tax, trust and estate planning matters for high net worth individuals, families, estates and fiduciaries. He is experienced in US expatriation and pre-immigration matters, as well as counselling individuals and families on their US tax compliance and foreign bank account reporting obligations. He previously was a partner at Withers.

An executive director at Standard Chartered Private Bank stepped down from the firm, and he took up a team head and relationship management role at Deutsche Wealth Management in Singapore. Standard Chartered confirmed Sagar Sapra left the UK-listed firm. It is understood that Sapra was appointed at Deutsche’s wealth arm in Singapore.

Mumbai-based Sanctum Wealth Management appointed Sridhar Natarajan as senior advisor - international. Natarajan is based in Singapore. He has over 25 years' experience in the private banking industry. He previously served as head of business development and markets investment advisory, wealth management South East Asia at UBS in Singapore.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority appointed Howard Lee as deputy chief executive. Alan Au was named executive director, for banking conduct. Lee is responsible for monetary stability and financial infrastructure development, including fintech and the new regulatory regime on the licensing and supervision of stored value facilities and the designation and oversight of retail payment systems in Hong Kong. Au succeeded Carmen Chu as executive director (banking conduct). Chu took over from Meena Datwani as executive director (enforcement and anti-money laundering).

Generali Asia, part of Italy-based Generali, appointed Dipak Sahoo as the new regional head of information technology for Asia, reporting to Roberto Leonardi, regional officer for Asia. Sahoo is based in Hong Kong. Sahoo has more than 20 years’ experience in the insurance sector. He has spent most of his career with global insurance companies in senior leadership roles in the areas of technology, operations and transformation across Asia. He previously headed the firm’s Group IT delivery team in Milan for a year. Prior to joining Generali, Dipak worked for Capgemini, the consultancy.

Northern Trust Asset Management appointed Martha Fee as chief operating officer for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Based in London, Fee is responsible for managing international operations and infrastructure teams for Northern Trust across EMEA and APAC. Fee also holds directorships of various entities related to the Northern Trust Asset Management business. She reports to Wayne Bowers, chief executive and chief investment officer of Northern Trust Asset Management, EMEA and APAC. Fee joined after two years at Northern Trust’s global fund services. Prior to joining Northern Trust in 2015, Fee spent 10 years at Janus Capital International.

A new chief risk officer took the reins at Australia’s Westpac, the previous holder of the post, Alexandra Holcomb, retired after 21 years at the group. David Stephen took on the role, joining from Royal Bank of Scotland where he was group chief risk officer since 2013. Prior to RBS, Stephen held senior roles at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse First Boston. He also spent five years at ANZ as group CRO, head of risk in the institutional business and general manager, wholesale risk. Holcomb’s retirement ended a 35-year financial services career; she has held her latest role for the past three years. Holcomb joined Westpac in 1996.

Global recruiter Hays appointed long-standing senior employee Richard Eardley as managing director of its Asia business. Starting his career at the firm in 1988, Eardley worked in Hays offices across the UK, before assuming the role of MDr for the firm’s Ireland business in June 2007. In addition to his role in Ireland, he was the UK and Ireland marketing director from 2013 to 2017 and he has most recently been leading Hays UK’s development of its IT and Digital specialism. He has also worked extensively with the Hays talent solutions business. Eardley is responsible for the day to day operational management and growth of Hays businesses in Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

A former head of group strategy for investments and pension fund group AustralianSuper was appointed to lead the wealth and asset management arm of KPMG. Rohit Mendiratta previously also worked at Telstra, as a strategy executive; RMIT University, as director, strategy and analytics, and at Westpac, where he worked in strategy, design and planning at that bank.

Bank J Safra Sarasin appointed Bellen Chang as a managing director for client advisory in its ultra-high net worth team, focusing on the Philippines. Based in Hong Kong, Chang has worked in the banking industry for 20 years, and in the private banking space since 1999. Chang reports to Vinay Gandhi, MD and chief executive for ultra-high net worth client business in Asia, based out of Singapore, and also reports to in Hong Kong to Enid Yip, CEO for Asia. Chang previously worked at UBS, Hong Kong, where she had been an executive director and a client advisor in the Philippines team, a role she held from 2006. She joined UBS from American Express Bank, where she was a client relationship manager covering the Philippines market from 2003. Prior to joining American Express Bank, Chang worked at JP Morgan in Hong Kong as an associate, where she first began covering the Philippines market in 1999. She began her career with Citibank in 1997.

Citi Private Bank appointed Sutarmin Lili as a managing director and senior private banker. The banker previously worked as a senior banker for ultra-high net worth clients in the Southeast Asia region at Julius Baer, and at Bank J Safra Sarasin subsequently. He is an Indonesian national.

UBS Asset Managementhas appointed Charlotte Baenninger as head of fixed income. She is based in UBS' Zurich office. Baenninger has been leading fixed income on an ad interim basis since the start of this year, and took on the role permanently. She has 30 years of experience in the investment industry. She has spent her entire career at the firm, beginning as a trainee in 1987, and was appointed head of fixed income Switzerland and CEMEA in 2001, managing that area for 16 years before additionally taking on the global role in January 2017.

US-based asset management firm Northern Trust appointed Danielle Henderson to its Sydney office, expanding its Asia-Pacific market advocacy & innovation research operation. She is responsible for implementing market advocacy and innovation research activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Henderson, who has 20 years industry experience of the global securities and market infrastructure sectors, joined from Kairos Enterprises, where she was responsible for market infrastructure development within the Australian securities industry.

BNY Mellon Investment Management appointed Lydia Wu as Institutional Sales Director, China and Gigi Wang, Business Development Manager, China. Wu is based in Hong Kong and responsible for growing and strengthening relationships with Mainland and Hong Kong-based Chinese institutions. 

Wang is based in Shanghai and responsible for our broader business development effort in the Mainland. Both of the managers report to Jessie Zhang, head of institutional distribution, Greater China and Southeast Asia, BNY Mellon Investment Management.

Wu most recently spent four years as vice president of China business development for State Street Global Advisors where she was responsible for growing and maintaining relationships with Chinese institutions including sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, banks and wealth management firms.  Prior to this she spent six years at Morgan Stanley Investment Management with a focus on Chinese institutions. Wang joins from Bosera Asset Management where she spent seven years in the role of institutional business development director. Working from Shanghai, she was responsible for developing new business opportunities with institutional clients including commercial banks, insurance companies and pension funds.

NWH Global (formerly Newhaven), an independently-held trust and corporate services provider, appointed Charlotte Denton as global chief executive. Having led the Guernsey office since January this year and overseen rebranding of the business, Denton took responsibility for the global operation. Denton is a chartered accountant who began her financial services career more than 20 years ago at Rothschild and then Barings. The latter was acquired by Northern Trust, where she spent five years in London.

Melbourne-headquartered ANZ appointed Ron Spector as managing director of new business, emerging technology and ventures. Spector reports to group executive digital banking, Maile Carnegie. Based in San Francisco, Spector has more than 27 years’ international experience in financial services, retail and media industries.

Edmond de Rothschild appointed Gad Amar as global head of business development of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management. He is based in Paris, and sits on the executive committee. Amar reports to Vincent Taupin, global chief executive of its' asset management arm, and chairman of the executive board at Edmond de Rothschild (France). Gad was previously head of client distribution for France, Belgium and Luxembourg at BlackRock.

AXA Investment Managers, the asset management arm of French insurer AXA SA, named Laurent Jacquemin as head of its Asia-Pacific division. Jacquemin, who is based in Tokyo, has about 18 years of experience in the real estate industry and most recently served as European head of transactions at the firm. John O‘Driscoll replaced Jacquemin as European head of transactions. O‘Driscoll was most recently chief executive of corporate finance and head of M&A for Europe, Middle East and Africa at real estate advisory firm JLL.

State Street Corporation said Jay Hooley will retire as chief executive by the end of 2018 after more than 30 years with the company and remain as chairman through to 2019.  Mike Rogers, retired as president and chief operating officer. Ron O’Hanley, previously vice-chairman of State Street and president and CEO of State Street Global Advisors, was named as president, COO and CEO.

O’Hanley has three decades of experience in the sector. Prior to joining State Street in 2015, O’Hanley served as president of asset management and corporate services for Fidelity Investments.  Before Fidelity, O’Hanley spent 13 years in leadership positions at Mellon Bank and Bank of New York Mellon including vice chairman of Mellon Financial Corporation and Bank of New York Mellon, and CEO of BNY Mellon Asset Management. Rogers joined State Street in 2007 following its acquisition of Investors Financial.

Cyrus Taraporevala succeeded O’Hanley as president and CEO of State Street Global Advisors. Taraporevala, who has 27 years' experience in asset management, joined SSGA in 2016 from Fidelity Investments.  He reports to Hooley and will join State Street’s management committee. As part of this transition, Andrew Erickson, head of State Street’s global services business for the Americas, leads a newly-formed global services business worldwide.

DBS appointed banking and property sector luminary Olivier Lim to the boards of DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank. Between 2003 and 2014, Lim served in CapitaLand Limited’s senior management team in various capacities, including as group deputy chief executive, group chief investment officer and group chief financial officer. Prior to CapitaLand, he spent 13 years at Citibank Singapore with its corporate and investment bank, including as head of the real estate unit.

Quant Insight, the macro research firm providing discretionary asset managers with investment ideas, appointed Ryan Adams, professor of computer science at Princeton University, and Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, to its advisory board. Adams was an assistant professor at Harvard University in the school of engineering and applied sciences. He was co-founder and chief executive of Whetlab, a machine learning start-up that was acquired by Twitter in 2015.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group named Chris Raciti as its new Korea chief executive, reporting to Grant Knuckey, CEO of Japan. Raciti replaced Tareq Muhmood, the previous Korea CEO who left ANZ this year to pursue opportunities outside of the bank. Raciti is based in Seoul. He is head of loan syndications and specialised finance for ANZ in North Asia, managing leveraged acquisition finance, specialised asset finance, project export finance and advisory across Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

Standard Chartered unveiled a raft of senior management at changes affecting roles including private banking and wealth management. Anna Marrs took on responsibility as regional chief executive for ASEAN and South Asia alongside her roles as CEO for commercial banking and CEO, private banking and wealth management in late 2016. Marrs moved her regional CEO responsibilities in two stages between now and the fourth quarter of 2018 to Judy Hsu, CEO, Singapore. Marrs continues to focus on commercial and private banking and wealth management.

Karen Fawcett, CEO for retail banking and group head, brand and marketing, retired. Her departure brought down the curtain on a Standard Chartered career that started when she joined the bank in 2001. Ben Hung, regional CEO, Greater China & North Asia (GCNA) took on the additional role of CEO, retail banking. He took over Fawcett’s responsibility for leading the development and implementation of strategy and ongoing product and technology improvements across retail banking. As regional CEO, GCNA, Hung remains responsible, together with Marrs and Sunil Kaushal, regional CEO, Africa & Middle East (AME), for delivering the retail banking strategy across retail markets. Tracey McDermott, group head, corporate, public and regulatory affairs, took charge of the brand and marketing brief. Judy Hsu, CEO, Singapore, took over responsibility for the ASA region in the fourth quarter of 2018. She took on additional responsibility for Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, and joined the group management team. She continued reporting to Marrs in relation to her ASA region responsibilities and also reported to Bill Winters, group CEO.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) re-appointed Vijaya Kumar Rajah to its board of directors. Rajah’s term of appointment was from 1 November 2017 to 31 May 2020.