A number of the big-brand banks saw moves and appointments of senior executives in the private wealth management space during September.

A former top-ranking Credit Suisse manager in Asia moved to take up the reins of another Swiss bank. Switzerland’s Falcon Private Bank appointed Philipp Korach as the new head of international private banking, reporting to Erich Pfister, global head of private banking. Korach oversees business areas in Western Europe, the Middle East & Asia, Eastern Europe and Swiss domestic, including the front units of the bank’s external asset managers’ business. Korach took over from Werner Schuppisser, who took another senior role, heading the newly-created unit called senior advisors.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management hired Sanjay Shah from JP Morgan Private Bank as team head and senior banker for the Hong Kong-based non-resident Indian team. She reports to Masroor Batin, who is head of NRI clients. As part of his role, Shah is responsible for further growing BNP Paribas’ NRI business in Hong Kong and leads a team of relationship managers specifically serving this client segment.

BNP Paribas also hired UBS director Jonathan Ng as head of Indonesia. Ng previously held responsibility for the Swiss bank's ultra-high net worth clients in Indonesia. In the newly-created role at BNP Paribas, he is based in Singapore. He joined with Sharon Yee, also from UBS, who has been appointed team leader, also based in Singapore.

Macquarie said Kevin McCann will retire as chairman and a voting director of both companies effective 31 March 2016; he will be succeeded by independent director Peter Warne. He was appointed an independent voting director in the summer of 2007.

Credit Suisse Private Banking appointed Dominique Boer as managing director and market leader for the Singapore market, reporting to Ms Young Jin Yee, market group head for Singapore. Boer joined from Standard Chartered Private Bank, where she was managing director covering both the Singapore and Greater China markets for the last six years. Prior to her role at Standard Chartered, Boer was head of business development and strategic implementation (SEA Private Bank) where she managed strategic implementation for business development programmes. Before this, Boer was regional centre head and head of priority banking Singapore, responsible for management of the bank’s priority banking business, branches and treasury specialists.

Alison Lim remained market leader and deputy market group head for Singapore while Adrian Teo was promoted to market leader for Singapore in August. He was previously team leader for the Singapore market. Both report to Young.

Credit Suisse hired John Woods from Citi as chief investment officer for Asia-Pacific within its private banking and wealth management business. Woods joined from Citi Investment Management where he was head of fixed income, Asia-Pacific. Before this, he served as chief investment strategist for Asia-Pacific at Citi Private Bank. Within his 25 years of industry experience, he has also held senior roles with HSBC in the UK and Hong Kong, including global head of credit research and strategy. He also sits on the bank’s global investment committee and reports to Nannette Hechler-Fayd’herbe, global head of investment strategy and research.

Julius Baer hired Citi Private Bank's Steven Lawrence as team head and senior relationship manager for the Philippine market. Lawrence joined from his position as senior private banker within Citi Private Bank's mega wealth team in Singapore. Before this, he served as the bank's region head for the Philippines, Thailand and Australia between 2005 and 2011. 

Withers, the law firm, appointed Lynette Ramoutar as a special counsel. She is based in its Hong Kong office, later transferring to the British Virgin Islands office. Ramoutar has experience of working in financial regulation roles across the Caribbean, most recently as deputy director for six years (and acting director) of the BVI Financial Services Commission's legal and enforcement division.

RBC Wealth Management hired Anita Wong from Coutts as an executive director to focus on the Hong Kong market. Wong joined from Coutts & Co in Hong Kong, where she was an executive director and private banker. She has almost 25 years' experience in the financial industry. In her new Hong Kong-based role, she joined the North Asia relationship management team.

Equities research firm theScreener expanded in Asia-Pacific by hiring former ABN AMRO equity strategist Daphne Roth, who was appointed executive director. Roth was with ABN AMRO for more than 15 years; among other roles, she is a regular commentator on international media, such as CNBC and Bloomberg. Her career with ABN AMRO Private Banking began in Switzerland when she joined the bank as an investment advisor. In 2006 she returned to Singapore and became the head of equity research for Asia. 

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors re-appointed Andrew Lee as chairman of its Hong Kong board for a term lasting until 31 August 2016. Lee is managing director of Sunbase International Properties Management.

State Street, the US-headquartered financial services group, made two senior appointments for Asia. Mark England was appointed to the role of senior vice president and head of asset manager sector sales for Asia, based in Hong Kong. In his new role, England is responsible for further developing and executing State Street’s sales strategy for the asset management sector in the region. England joined State Street from Citibank, where he was most recently head of asset manager sales for the investor services group. He has more than 17 years of industry experience, having held positions in sales, implementation and operations functions in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Colin Zhong was named as head of global markets sales and trading and research for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, based in Hong Kong. Prior to joining State Street, Zhong held senior roles at UBS and Deutsche, specialising in currency and fixed income rates products in locations including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and New York.

Convoy Financial Holdings, the independent financial advisor in Hong Kong, appointed Ng Wing Fai as executive director and group president, a newly-created role. Ng’s directorship is for a three-year term. Ng is the managing partner and founding partner of Primus Pacific Partners, overseeing investments in New China Life Insurance Co, the Chinese life insurance company, EON Bank, the Malaysia bank, and a number of significant assets around the world. Previously, Ng was MD of Fubon Financial Holding and was in charge of Fubon Financial’s overall strategy, capital markets, merger and acquisition activities and major change programmes. Prior to that, Ng served at a number of financial institutions, including the financial institutions investment banking divisions at Salomon Smith Barney and Booz Allen & Hamilton.

Credit Suisse hired Balakrishnan Kunnambath from DBS to fill the role of head of non-resident Indians (NRIs), South Asia. Kunnambath joined from his position as managing director within DBS Private Bank in Singapore. Before this, he was managing director at Societe Generale Private Banking, where he focused on the NRI market.

Global consulting firm Mercer announced a number of senior appointments in Singapore and Hong Kong. Billy Wong, managing director and business leader in Hong Kong, and Francis Goh, country leader in Singapore, continued to drive Mercer’s business and sales growth in their respective markets. Wong and Goh report to Lisa Sun, managing director and partner, Asia market for Mercer, and are responsible for the company’s Hong Kong and Singapore operations respectively. Mercer also appointed Jon Robinson as ASEAN executive rewards leader and Kwong Hui Hen as senior associate, executive rewards, both based in Singapore. Meanwhile, Robert Li was named as talent consulting business leader, based in Hong Kong.

Mirae Asset Global Investments (USA), part of one of Asia’s largest financial groups, hired four analysts to boost its global equity team in the US. The analysts are based in New York and report to Jose Gerardo Morales, chief investment officer. 
The new arrivals were Tatiana Feldman, SungWon Song, Malcom Dorson and Michael Dolacky.  

Feldman is a senior investment analyst focusing on global emerging markets ex-Asia. Prior to joining Mirae Asset USA, Feldman served as an investment analyst with INCA Investments, an equity research analyst at Brasil Plural and a senior analyst at Morgan Stanley covering Latin America. 

Dr Song is an investment analyst focusing on the global healthcare sector. Previously, Dr Song worked at Nationwide Children's Hospital, where he served as a postdoctoral research fellow, and The Ohio State University, where he worked as a graduate research associate. Dr Song holds a PhD in Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology from The Ohio State University.

Dorson is an investment analyst focusing on global emerging markets ex-Asia. Previously, Dorson worked as an investment analyst at Ashmore Group covering Latin America and at Citigroup as an assistant vice president focusing on asset management for ultra-high net worth clients.

Dolacky is an investment analyst focusing on the global healthcare sector. Dolacky previously was an investment analyst with Senzar Asset Management and a fixed income analyst at Nomura Securities.

The Hong Kong Investment Funds Association appointed an executive committee for the year 2015-2016, and named Invesco Hong Kong’s Terry Pan and Principal Global Investors (Asia)’s Arthur Bacci as chairman and vice chairman, respectively.

Pan joined Invesco in February 2015 as CEO, Greater China, Singapore and Korea, responsible for driving the overall growth and coverage of Invesco’s Greater China business, spanning across Hong Kong, China (offshore business), Singapore and Taiwan, as well as the other emerging markets in Asia. Pan has more than 20 years of industry experience in asset management and financial services; he joined Invesco from JP Morgan Asset Management, where he was managing director, head of the Hong Kong and China QDII funds business.

One of the most senior figures at Julius Baer’s Asia business, Nigel Sze, head of Hong Kong and China, is leaving, media reports – not commented upon by the bank – said. Sze joined the firm about a year ago and has been reporting into Wilson So, head of Greater China at Julius Baer.

He was previously deputy chief executive for Asia and head of private banking in Hong Kong at EFG, the Swiss firm.

A senior figure at Citi Private Bank joined Deutsche Bank in the firm’s Southeast Asia team: Savita Bedi was appointed as managing director in the Southeast Asia team, covering wealth management in that sub-region, and is based in Singapore. Bedi worked at Citi Private Bank for 13 years and six months.

Professional services firm Towers Watson appointed Richard Collis as managing director, regional leader for risk consulting and software in the Asia-Pacific region. Collis, who has 27 years of experience in the industry, is based in Hong Kong and reports to Michael Murphy, managing director and global leader, risk consulting and software. Since starting his career in Australia, he has held senior Asia-Pacific-focused positions with global financial institutions. He relocated to Hong Kong from Sydney in 2007. 

Standard Chartered named Judy Hsu as its chief executive for Singapore, taking the helm from Neeraj Swaroop. Swaroop left to pursue other opportunities. He resigned after turning down the offer of a job overseeing the business in India, a report said. Hsu, who joined Standard Chartered in 2009 from Citigroup, remains in charge of wealth management over a transitional period. Swaroop joined Standard Chartered in 2005; he was CEO for India and South Asia until 2012. His successor in the role, Sunil Kaushal, was appointed in July as the regional CEO for Africa and the Middle East and made a member of the new management team. 

M&G Investments, part of UK-listed Prudential Group, appointed Ominder Dhillon as its global head of institutional distribution. His business role encompasses a variety of regions, including Asia. Ominder is responsible for M&G’s institutional distribution across all asset classes. He reports to Simon Pilcher, chief executive, fixed income, M&G Investments. Previously, Ominder worked at Impax Asset Management, where he was managing director, global business development and client service. He previously held senior business development positions at Fidelity International and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership. 

Falcon Private Bank appointed Febby Avianto to the newly created, Singapore-based role of head of private banking for Asia. He joined from RBC Wealth Management. At RBC, Avianto held the role of market head for Southeast Asia; his 20-year career in the sector has encompassed roles at Citi Private Banking, UBS and Bank Sarasin.

Friends Provident International, part of the Aviva group of financial firms, appointed Adrian Emery as chief executive, taking over from Khor Hock Seng who leaves in October to become group CEO of Great Eastern after only two months in the CEO role, although he had been with the firm for more than two years in total. Chris Wei, executive chairman, Aviva Asia and FPI and global chairman, Aviva Digital, continued to oversee the region and lead the growth strategy of both Aviva Asia and FPI. Emery joined Aviva in January 2015 as director of business development for Global Life.  James Tan, managing director for Hong Kong; Marcus Gent, managing director Middle East and rest of world; Chris Gill, general manager, Southeast Asia; and Caroline Cornish, general manager, Isle of Man, will continue in their roles at FPI.

Nomura appointed Lee Chee Pin as head of financial products and solutions for wealth management in the Asia ex-Japan region. Lee is based in Singapore and reports to Nobuhiro Sano, head of wealth management, Asia ex-Japan. In this newly created role, Lee is responsible for overseeing all trading and dealing functions across wealth management in the region. Previously, Lee worked at Island Asset Management, a boutique fund management company investing in Asian small-cap companies, where he was chief executive. He started his career as a foreign exchange trader at Chemical Bank before joining Bank of America, where his last role was as head of global foreign exchange for Asia. He has also previously worked at Guoco Management as head of group treasury and Millennium Capital Management as a forex portfolio manager.