March proved to be a busy month for high-profile comings and goings at many of the wealth management firms operating in the region, such as with the departure of Brady Dougan, CEO at Credit Suisse.

Here is a roundup of moves in the Asia-Pacific wealth management market. This was a busy month, with several rounds of promotions, exits and hires.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group made a number of senior appointments in its renminbi banking and trading teams. Lucy Chen was recruited as global head of RMB transaction banking, a new role based in Shanghai. She will oversee the embedding of the currency across the bank’s transaction banking offering and reports to Philippe Jaccard, global co-head of transaction banking products. She previously was head of global transaction banking at OCBC in China. Prior to this she worked at Citibank in China for 18 years as head of financial institutions for East China, head of transaction banking client delivery and deputy general manager of the Shanghai branch.

Patrick Wu was promoted to deputy head of global markets China and head of RMB trading. He supports the build-out of ANZ’s global markets offering in China. He is based in Shanghai and reports to Dennis Wong, global head of RMB, and Sam Phoen, head of global markets for China. Kenneth Lau was appointed head of offshore RMB trading in Hong Kong. He is responsible for building ANZ’s offering across FX and rates and reports jointly to Wong and Wu. Lau joins from Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, where he ran the Hong Kong dollar franchise and built the bank’s Chinese currency platform. He started his career with UBS Hong Kong in 1994, before moving to Barclays in 2000, within the local markets derivatives trading unit.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group appointed David Qu as China rates strategist as part of a drive to expand its financial markets coverage. Qu was previously deputy division chief of the Financial Stability Bureau at the People’s Bank of China in Beijing. In his new role he is based in Shanghai and reports to global head of rates research Danny Suwanapruti, who recently joined the bank in Singapore from Standard Chartered.

Bank of Singapore made a raft of promotions to its private banking teams. Robin Heng, market head for Indonesia, was elevated to global market head for Indonesia. Heng Yeow Kwang was appointed to market head for Indonesia, reporting to Heng. Separately, David Ang was appointed to deputy market head for Indonesia, also reporting to Heng.

Derrick Tan, market head for Malaysia, was appointed to global market head for Malaysia, Japan and NRI clients. Max Yeo was appointed to market head for Malaysia, reporting to Tan. Olivier Denis expanded his role as global market head to include Thailand/Indochina, in addition to Singapore and International. The Singapore teams are led by two market heads, Jeffrey Tan and Rodney Sim, who both report to Olivier Denis.

Fidelity Worldwide Investments' Nitin Bajaj was named as portfolio manager of Fidelity Asian Values trust. Bajaj took on the new role from his position as portfolio manager of Fidelity's Asian Smaller Companies fund. Based in Singapore, he replaced John Lo, who continued to manage segregated institutional mandates and focus on his open-ended funds.

Northern Trust named Michael Wu, most recently country manager for its Beijing branch, as head of its Greater China region, a newly created position. Wu has executive management responsibilities for the Hong Kong office, in addition to his current responsibilities for the Beijing branch. He reports to William Mak, head of Asia-Pacific, Northern Trust. Wu was appointed as chief representative for the Northern Trust Beijing representative office in 2008.

The head of independent asset managers at Pictet in Asia left the firm and the role will be divided to cover the Singapore and Hong Kong markets. The departing manager was Sylvain Gysler, who had been based in Singapore. Prior to that, he was a vice president at Credit Suisse from October 2008 to May 2011, working in the private bank with the post of “private banking, Singapore – team leader EAM desk North Asia”, according to a LinkedIn profile. From April 2006 to July 2007 he had been a commodities analyst for Union Bancaire Privée.

Credit Suisse appointed Jin Yee Young, formerly sector head and deputy market leader for Indonesia, to the role of market group head of Singapore. Her promotion means she reports to Benjamin Cavalli, market area head for Southeast Asia. Young took over more than 18 years of experience in wealth management, 11 of which were with Credit Suisse in Singapore. She was a relationship manager primarily covering the Greater China market before she took up the management route as part of the Swiss bank’s "Frontline Leadership" career path.

Citigroup appointed Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Catherine Cai as chairman and head of China investment banking. Cai joined the global bank after a decade with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where she was most recently chairman of China investment banking.

Christian Mueller was been appointed global head, investment advisory for the private bank of Standard Chartered.  Based in Singapore, Mueller reports to Alexis Calla, global head, investment strategy, advisory and managed investment. He was previously head of investment advisory in Asia, a role he held between November 2013 and February this year; he earlier worked at UBS, according to his LinkedIn profile.

BMO Private Bank, part of Canada-headquartered Bank of Montreal, added a relationship manager for the Hong Kong market, Petty Lee.

Lee joined BMO Private Bank in Hong Kong as executive director in March, responsible for developing the Hong Kong market. She reports to Daniel Ho, managing director of BMO Private Bank, Hong Kong branch.

Old Mutual Global Investors appointed Simon MacKinnon as Asia strategy advisor, a new role the firm created to aid its expansion plans in the Asia-Pacific region. MacKinnon works on a consultancy basis, providing strategic advice and support to Old Mutual Global Investors and Old Mutual International – part of Old Mutual Wealth – in respect of their regional growth. He reports to Old Mutual Global Investors’ chief executive, Julian Ide, and work with the firm’s head of distribution Asia, Carol Wong.

Control Risks, the global business risk consultancy, appointed a pair of senior managing directors in its forensic investigations, compliance and insolvency practice in Hong Kong. The two hires were Mavis Tan and Simon Blade. Between them, Blade and Tan have over 35 years' experience in their area of work. Prior to joining Control Risks, they were both senior managing directors in FTI Consulting's forensic and litigation consulting practice.

 

 

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RBC Wealth Management, part of Royal Bank of Canada, hired two new senior relationship managers, Joanna Koo and Gala Shiu, as directors within its Singapore-based North Asia team. The duo report to North Asia team head, David Tan. The team focuses particularly on Greater China. Both professionals join from United Overseas Bank.
 
Barclays hired Andrew Sum as market head, Greater China, after his having left a similar post at rival Coutts. Sum had been at Coutts, part of Royal Bank of Scotland, the part-government-owned UK bank, since 2008. A number of senior figures left the private banking arm of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group in Singapore. Debra Tay, market head Singapore, Malaysia and international clients, resigned from the firm. Two bankers in her team, Aloysius Lee and Doris Que, also resigned. Their departure dates vary and they are also still at the bank. Mike Byers, market head Australasia, also resigned. Helen Lonsdale, senior manager and head of business transformation at the private bank, leaves in the middle of this year for personal reasons. Separately, ssenior manager Bret Packard took on the role of leading private banking in the region.

Sotheby’s, the global auction house, appointed Tad Smith as chief executive. He will take on the role from 31 March, replacing William Ruprecht, who has served in the post since 2000. Smith also joined the Sotheby’s board of directors. He has been president and CEO of the Madison Square Garden Company since February 2014. In this role, he oversaw the overall strategy and day-to-day operations of MSG Sports, MSG Media, and MSG Entertainment.

Noah Holdings, the Chinese wealth and asset management firm, appointed Kenny Lam to be group president. He was previously a global senior partner at McKinsey and he takes up his new role immediately.

 

 

Global professional services firm KPMG appointed a former top-ranking figure at law firm Baker & McKenzie to the role of special advisor, working in areas such as family offices and wealth management. Michael Olesnicky, based in Hong Kong, reports to Khoon-ming Ho, managing partner for the China/Hong Kong tax practice at KPMG. Olesnicky made the switch in October, but his appointment was not announced at the time. At Baker & McKenzie, he was head of the law firm’s tax group in Asia and a member of its global tax steering committee.

The head of region at financial services firm Old Mutual International in Singapore and Southeast Asia, Craig Ellis, left the firm after being at the company since 2012. Ellis left to pursue opportunities outside the firm.

Falcon Private Bank, based in Switzerland with offices worldwide including Singapore and Abu Dhabi, elected one of the Alpine state's most high-profile figures, Walter Berchtold, as a member of its board of directors. Berchtold’s 30-year career includes his membership of Credit Suisse’s executive board (2003-2012) and the role of chief executive, private banking, at Credit Suisse from 2006 to 2011. He acts as an independent global financial services expert managing various mandates.

Professional services firm Towers Watson appointed Sam Farrimond as Asia-Pacific deputy leader of its insurance management consultancy practice. Farrimond joined the business from Shoreline Asia, a consultancy firm he founded in 2009. In his new role, Farrimond supports Keith Brooks, regional director of Towers Watson Asia Pacific and leader of the IMC practice. He provides advisory services to insurers in the areas of strategy design, distribution and operations.

Global investment manager Vanguard rejigged its leadership team, appointing John James as its new leader of UK and Europe, and Colin Kelton as managing director of Vanguard, Australia. James transitioned from his position as managing director of Australia to assume responsibility for UK and European operations. He report to Vanguard International's managing director, James Norris. Taking the reins from James as leader of the group's Australian business is Kelton, who has been promoted from his position as principal of retail marketing and the communications group in the US.

The wealth arm of UBS made a pair of senior appointments in Asia. Karen Chen officially took up the role of president for UBS (China). She was nominated as executive director on the board of directors, in addition to her role as head of wealth management for UBS (China). Chen has worked at UBS since July 2014. Before joining UBS, Chen previously worked at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where she was CEO for China. She has also held senior roles across various functions at Standard Chartered.

Separately, UBS appointed Ketan Samani as its new chief digital officer for the Asia-Pacific region within wealth management. Samani is based in Singapore and reports to Geoffroy De Ridder, managing director and operating head, wealth management Asia-Pacific. Samani’s role is a newly created one.

Bank of China said its vice chairman, executive director and chief executive, He Guangbei. Guangbei, resigned, for “age reasons”. Guangbei was succeeded by Yue Yi, who has been with the firm since 1980 and assumed the role of executive director, vice chairman and chief executive.

Union Bancaire Privée’s Asian head, Stephan Repkow, was leaving the firm in the second half of 2015 after spending more than four years at UBP.

Switzerland-headquartered Bank Reyl & Cie appointed one of its Singapore-based top executives as a partner. Nicolas Duchêne had been in charge of Reyl Singapore and Reyl Private Office. He joined Dominique Reyl, François Reyl, Christian Fringhian and
Lorenzo Rocco di Torrepadula as partner and member of the firm’s executive committee. In his new role, Duchêne contributes to the strategic and operational implementation of the bank and continues to manage the activities of Reyl Singapore and Reyl Private Office. He also develops its corporate advisory and structuring department, which he has co-headed with Christian Fringhian since its launch in 2013.

The Singapore office of global financial and taxation advisors Rawlinson & Hunter appointed Herdin Syafari as tax director. Syafari is responsible for all tax clients of Rawlinson & Hunter Singapore with a specific focus on Indonesian tax (private client and corporate), and Singaporean tax (private client and corporate). Syafari has more than 16 years of experience in Indonesian and international tax consultancy, having previously worked for one of the “Big Four” accounting firms for 11 years, serving multinational clients from various industries. He also has five years of experience working as head of the international tax department in Indonesia’s largest public energy company.

Aberdeen Asset Management hired William Shaw as head of segregated property mandates, Asia-Pacific. Shaw took on the newly created role within the direct property investment team. Most recently as a consultant in Hong Kong, he advised on over $1 billion worth of local and international real estate investments. His 20 years' experience in Asia covers Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as emerging regions including China, Thailand and Vietnam.

Jessica Poh, who was head of the Singapore and Indonesia market segments at Citi Private Bank in Asia, was appointed to the newly-created role of global markets manager for Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines.
DBS Group Holdings hired Rabobank’s Surojit Shome to replace Sanjiv Bhasin as head of its Indian operations after a surge in soured debt. He had been at the firm for almost seven years.

regulatory approval, Surojit Shome, CEO & Country Head of Rabobank, India, will assume the role of CEO of DBS India with effect from 15 April," a statement from DBS said.