All the wealth management moves in Asia-Pacific for October.

Asia-Pacific moves for October, 2017
Macquarie appointed Glenn Stevens as an independent director. Stevens has held a number of senior roles at Reserve Bank of Australia for 20 years, rising to the pinnacle of governor between 2006 and 2016. Separately, after 25 years of service, Stephen Allen, Macquarie’s chief risk officer and head of risk management group, said he intended to retire. Effective 1 January 2018, Macquarie’s chief financial officer and head of financial management group (FMG), Patrick Upfold, took over from Allen in the CRO and head of RMG roles. Alex Harvey, global head of principal transactions in Macquarie Capital, succeeded Upfold as chief financial officer and head of FMG and will join the executive committee. Harvey joined Macquarie in 1999.

HSBC Private Banking named two market heads into its North Asia team, working via Singapore. The joiners were Alfred Low, market head, North Asia ex-Hong Kong. Yi Mun Tse was named market head, Hong Kong, HSBC Private Banking. The duo replaced Tim Yu who formerly oversaw North Asia including Hong Kong from Singapore. Both market heads are responsible for new business development and executing HSBC Singapore’s private banking strategy in their respective markets. They report to the Head of HSBC Private Banking, South East Asia and Chingyee Yau, co-head of HSBC Private Banking, North Asia, who is based in Hong Kong.

Ho Hern Shin, executive director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore's insurance department, was appointed as assistant managing director of banking and insurance.  She took over the position from Chua Kim Leng, who requested to relinquish his current role to take up an advisory position. Chua was appointed as special advisor of the financial supervision group. 

Loo Siew Yee, executive director of the MAS' banking department, was named assistant managing director of policy, risk and surveillance. She took the reins from Wong Nai Seng, who left the MAS to pursue other interests. The regulator also appointed Tan Yeow Seng as chief cyber-security officer – a newly-created role. His responsibilities include setting cyber resiliency standards and overseeing their implementation. Tan holds this position alongside his role as executive director of technology risk and payments.

Following news that Bassam Salem retired as regional head of Citi Private Bank  for Asia, the US bank said Steven Lo, a 26-year veteran of the lender, had taken over his role. Lo is based in Hong Kong, and reports jointly to Peter Charrington, global head of Citi Private Bank, and Francisco Aristeguieta, CEO of Citi Asia Pacific. An experienced private banker covering clients in North America, Canada, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines, Lo joined Citi Private Bank 26 years ago as an ultra-high net worth banker Vancouver, focusing on clients in North America and Asia.

Indosuez Wealth Management appointed three senior relationship managers and a product specialist in Hong Kong and Singapore. Andrew Cheng was named managing director in Hong Kong, reporting to Piera Au-Yeung, team head and deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong branch. Cheng worked previously at ANZ Private Bank and Bank Julius Baer in Hong Kong, having gained over a decade of private banking experience in the Greater China region.

Amy Yeung was appointed senior director in Hong Kong, reporting also to Piera Au-Yeung, team head and deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong branch. Before taking on this role, Amy was with ANZ Private Bank and ABN AMRO Private Bank in Hong Kong for over 10 years as a senior private banker. 

Qays Koh was appointed director in Singapore, reporting to Michael Yeo, team head and senior director of the Singapore branch. Qays joined Indosuez Wealth Management from ABN AMRO Private Bank and Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, bringing with him more than 10 years of private banking experience.

Separately, Teresa Hui was appointed fixed income advisor in Hong Kong, reporting to Arjan De Boer, head of markets and investments and structuring, Asia. Being a fixed income specialist, she has more than 10 years’ experience in advising targeted investment solutions to high-net-worth and ultra high-net-worth clients and private bankers alike. Prior to her role at Indosuez Wealth Management, she worked for Edmond De Rothschild in Hong Kong.

Indosuez Wealth Management in Singapore also appointed Vignesh Ravindran as a senior banker. He has more than 15 years of rich and diverse experience, having held a variety of roles across the financial services sector. Prior to Indosuez Wealth Management, Ravindran advised clients at Westpac Singapore and Standard Chartered Singapore, following a long stint with one of India's leading capital market companies. An Engineer by training, he holds a Master in Business Administration in Marketing and Finance.

Among other NRI-related hires, Indosuez WM also recently appointed senior relationship managers such as Akhila Narayanan (previously from Coutts Private Bank), Balaji Dhaks`hinamoorthy (previously from ABN Amro Private Bank) and Abhineet Kalra (previously from HSBC Private Bank). These senior bankers report to managing director and team head, Shiladitya Choudhuri.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management appointed Wee Teck Tay as director, head of private markets Asia-Pacific, and John Lilley as director, funds solutions specialist APAC. Based in Singapore, Tay reported to Lavanya Chari, head of global products & solutions APAC and Michael Isikow, global head of private markets. Tay has 20 years of industry experience in investment banking and asset management. He spent the previous nine years on sourcing, structuring and managing customised, unique and exclusive private equity and real estate opportunities for private banking clients of Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of Singapore. Also based in Singapore, Lilley reports to Joyce Ngan, head of funds solutions APAC. Lilley joined from Taurus family office, where he was head of client investments. Prior to Taurus, Lilley was with Citi Private Bank.

The former regional head of alternative investments at HSBC Private Banking joined Australia-based Longreach Alternatives as managing director. Joining the firm is Sam Edwards, who left HSBC in July after spending almost four years at the Hong Kong/UK-listed bank. At HSBC he had been head of discretionary wealth management services.

The Australian wealth business called Crestone, formed when the UBS business in the country was spun off in a management buyout, maintained the link with the Swiss banking giant by hiring Scott Haslam as chief investment officer. Haslem took up the role to replace Dr David Sokulsky. Most recently, Haslem was most recently managing director and chief economist, head of macro research, for Australia and New Zealand at UBS. Prior to joining UBS, Haslem spent seven years working for the Reserve Bank of Australia, primarily in the economic activity and forecasting section.

B Capital, the venture capital firm backed by a Facebook founder, Eduardo Saverin, appointed a new chairman, Howard L Morgan. Morgan, who was an executive at Renaissance Technologies, the hedge fund group, is also co-founder of First Round Capital, a VC firm. The firm also named Joe Davis, chairman of the Boston Consulting Group’s North American operations, as vice chairman; hired Allen Duan as an operating partner; and named Rohit Bhagat as a senior advisor.

Asia-based venture firm Cocoon Capital appointed Martin Roll as external senior advisor. Roll is the chief executive of Martin Roll Company and has more than 25 years of board and C-suite counselling experience. He teaches MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programmes at Nanyang Business School (Singapore), and is a frequent guest lecturer at INSEAD and other business schools, the firm said in a statement. 

HarbourVest Partners, a global private markets asset manager, appointed Simon Jennings as a managing director. Based in London, Jennings concentrates on business development with distribution partners in Europe and Asia to help their private wealth clients achieve their private markets objectives. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the financial sector. Prior to joining HarbourVest, he was the global head of private equity at HSBC, where he was responsible for creating, structuring, and accessing private equity investment opportunities for private and institutional clients.
 
Hong Kong-based Odyssey Capital Group, which also has offices in Sydney, Vietnam and London, appointed Max Martirani, a former portfolio manager at the firm Symmetry Investments, to take on the role of asset management head. At Symmetry Martirani worked in areas such as Global macro, Asia, foreign exchange, interest rates, equities, commodities and options. Martirani left Symmetry early this year after working there for more than two years. Prior to this, he was an executive member and PM at Graham Capital for 3 years and portfolio manager at Citadel for 2 years.

Germany-headquartered Allianz Global Investors appointed Philip Tso as head of institutional solutions for the Asia-Pacific region. Based in Hong Kong, Tso is mainly in charge of guiding AllianzGI’s strategy in the region. He also works with the Hong Kong institutional team to maintain senior client relationships.

HSBC appointed Jayant Rikhye as chief executive of its India operation, to replace Stuart Milne. He is also Asia-Pacific head of strategy and planning at HSBC. He first joined the firm in 1989. He has worked in a number of places for the bank including Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group appointed Alisdair Creanor as the chief executive of Cambodia, reporting to Dennis Hussey, CEO for Vietnam and head of the Greater Mekong region. Creanor is based in Phnom Penh. The predecessor in the role, Leonie Lethbridge, left in June after having served just more than a year.

ANZ brought in the former prime minister of New Zealand, Sir John Key, to be its new chairman in 2018. John Judge, chair of ANZ Zealand retired, having held his existing post since July 2012. 
Global law firm Goodwin appointed partners Douglas Freeman and Victor Chen to its international private equity practice in the Hong Kong office.  Freeman and Chen developed an Asia-focused practice guiding private equity firms, investment banking firms, venture capital and institutional investors in connection with public and private M&A, securities offerings, financings, PIPEs and auctions in various industries.

Lombard Odier appointed one of the high-profile wealth management figures in Southeast Asia, Lee Wong, to the role of head of family services, Asia. She took over from a predecessor who has moved to a senior Tokyo-based role at the same firm. Wong reports to Vincent Magnenat, chief executive of Asia at Lombard Odier. Previously, Wong, who has more than 18 years of experience in the wealth management industry, worked at Union Bancaire Privée in Singapore, where she was head of wealth planning for South Asia.

Australia’s Federal Government appointed former Goldman Sachs banker James Shipton to replace Greg Medcraft as chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Shipton has more than 20 years' experience to the corporate regulator after roles at Goldman Sachs as a managing director and head of government and regulatory affairs for Asia-Pacific. He was executive director of studies in international finance systems at Harvard Law School in the United States after serving as a commissioner at the Hong Kong Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fullerton Fund Management, the Singapore-based firm, appointed Jenny Sofian as chief executive, taking over from Manraj Sekhon who left in November last year. Sofian joined Amundi Singapore, where she spent more than 20 years. She was appointed the CEO and head of South Asia in November 2009, in charge of its Southeast Asian and Australian operations.

Sun Life hired Jeroen Simons as a director for high net worth client business development, having joined from Swiss Life Singapore, where he held a business development role. In total, Simons has more than 30 years’ industry experience. Simons is responsible for bringing to market a range of new local products being developed by Sun Life HK especially for HNW individuals.

Adele Yeo was appointed managing director, head of investment advisors, South Asia at Union Bancaire Privée, the private bank has confirmed to this publication. Yeo reports to Ranjit Khanna, head of South Asia at the Geneva-headquartered bank. Prior to UBP, Yeo worked at Citigroup, where she was equity sales director. Previous roles included equity sales at Credit Suisse and roles at JP Morgan and BNP Paribas.

Bonhams, the international auction house, appointed Jessica Zhang as its representative in mainland China. She is based in Beijing, tasked with building the Bonhams brand throughout the country. Zhang has a background in brand management and the marketing of luxury lifestyle. As managing director of Quintessentially China – a provider of tailored luxury services for high net-worth individuals – she established the business in China and was responsible for its branding, marketing and strategic planning. 

Leonteg, an independent technology and service provider for investment solutions, appointed the former chief executive of Julius Baer Asia to its board. Thomas Meier is an independent member of the board. Meier served as CEO Asia and a member of the executive board at Julius Baer from 2005 to 2015. He was also head of private wealth management and a member of the management board at Deutsche Bank (Luxembourg) and, prior to that, served as CEO of North Asia at Credit Suisse.

PricewaterhouseCoopers appointed Olwyn Alexander as its global wealth and asset management leader. She is the first woman and first Irish person to hold the role. Alexander represents the asset and wealth management teams globally including those in Europe, Middle East and Africa, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. She has more than 23 years' experience in the financial services sector. She has worked in the investment management, alternatives and financial services industries in Ireland, the UK, the US and Asia.

HSBC appointed John Flint, head of retail banking and wealth management, to be the new chief executive officer, taking over from Stuart Gulliver. HSBC’s board approved Flint’s appointment after the arrival of new chairman Mark Tucker last week.

Nomura appointed Mark Yassin as executive chairman of Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. In this role, Yassin is responsible for developing client relationships and driving the growth of Nomura’s wholesale operations across the MENA. He is based in Dubai and reports to Yasuo Kashiwagi, executive chairman of Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Charles Pitts-Tucker, head of investment banking of EMEA. The new hire has 30 years of banking experience, and was most recently with National Bank of Abu Dhabi, where he was co-head of global wholesale banking and head of global banking and a member of NBAD’s executive committee.

The trust, corporate and fund services company ZEDRA appointed Jacqueline Shek and Stella Tong as executive director for trust services and executive director for family offices, respectively. Both individuals work out of Hong Kong. Shek, a private client and trust lawyer, has worked in tax, trust and private wealth structuring for over 18 years; she has worked with families, professional advisors, banks and trustee companies in setting up, administering, restructuring and defending private trust and charitable arrangements for Asian families. Prior to her new role, Shek was global head of legal for a bank-owned private trust business and previously a partner in a major international law firm in Hong Kong, ZEDRA said.

Tong, a lawyer with 30 years of experience in private client work and corporate advisory and structuring. As a former corporate banker, she has advised clients on project financing. As a wealth management consultant, she has assisted private clients, delivering structuring solutions across corporate, commercial, trusts and private wealth planning environments. Prior to joining, Tong was a partner of a Hong Kong law firm and a Hong Kong/PRC joint venture law firm based in China, where she was responsible for developing their trust and fiduciary business.

DBS Bank today appointed a new chief economist, Taimur Baig, who took up the role to replace David Carbon, who retired. Baig has almost 20 years’ experience covering the Asia region. His areas of specialty include international finance, macro risk spill-over, exchange rate and fixed income analytics and forecasting, the economics of financial crisis, and demographics. Baig reports to Timothy Wong, managing director and head of DBS Group Research. Previously, Taimur was the principal economist at the Economic Policy Group at the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He had previously spent nearly a decade at Deutsche Bank’s Singapore office, where his last position was MD and chief economist, Asia. He joined Deutsche Bank as chief economist for India and ASEAN in 2007.

Deutsche Asset Management appointed Alex Prout as head of Asia-Pacific for Deutsche Asset Management. He is based in Hong Kong. Prout reports to Nicolas Moreau, chair and head of Deutsche Asset Management, as well as Thorsten Michalik, head of the global client group for Europe, Middle East and Africa and APAC. He joined from Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where most recently he was chief operating officer for global sales and distribution. Prior to that, he worked at Invesco Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. He has spent much of his career in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Insurance and risk management firm Chubb, which provides services for clients including high net worth individuals, made senior managers in general and life insurance roles in Asia. 

Cunqiang Li was named chief operating officer of Chubb Life, the company's international life insurance division. Li is chairman and chief executive of Huatai Life, a joint venture between Chubb and the Huatai Insurance Group in China. In his new position, Li is based in Hong Kong and focus on leading the day-to-day operations of Chubb Life's Asian life insurance entities, in addition to continuing to provide governance oversight to the operations of Huatai Life.  

The role sees Li reporting to Russell Bundschuh, senior vice president, Chubb Group and President, Chubb Life. Li has more than 25 years of insurance industry experience. Li joined Beijing-based Huatai Life in 2012 as CEO and president and was named chairman and CEO in 2016. Kevin Goulding has been named president of combined insurance, the company's agency and worksite-based personal accident and supplemental health insurance company. Having been regional president, Asia-Pacific, of Chubb Life, Goulding will be responsible for all management aspects of this business, which has operations in the
US and Canada. He is based in Chicago and reports to Ed Clancy, executive vice president of Chubb Group, Global Accident & Health and Life.  

Goulding has more than 25 years of insurance industry experience. He was appointed Regional President, Asia-Pacific, of ACE Life in 2012, a position he retained after ACE acquired Chubb in 2016 and adopted the Chubb name globally. Prior to joining Chubb Life, Goulding was CEO of AIG China.

Brad Bennett was named regional president of the company's Far East operations in Japan. Currently SVP, Chubb Group and president, combined insurance, Bennett is responsible for the management and business results for all general insurance operations including property and casualty, accident and health, and personal lines. He is based in Tokyo and reports to Juan C Andrade, executive vice president, Chubb Group and president, overseas general insurance. Bennett has more than 30 years of insurance industry experience. He joined the company in 2012 as President of Combined Insurance after more than 17 years with AIG. He mainly worked in the Asia region.

Jeff Hager was named regional chief operating officer of the Pacific region in the US. Hager, who is regional president, Far East, provides management oversight for the regional underwriting and sales strategies in the seven branches of the region which include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Newport Beach, San Ramon, Seattle, Portland and Phoenix.  Hager is based in San Ramon, where he he also leads that branch, and reports to Jim Darling, regional executive officer for the Pacific region. Hager has more than 25 years of insurance industry experience in Asia and North America. In 2011, he joined ACE as Regional President, Far East, a position he retained after ACE acquired Chubb.

Chris Martin was been named COO of combined insurance. Martin is president of Chubb Workplace Benefits, the worksite division of combined insurance, and continued with these responsibilities.  He is based in Chicago and will report to Goulding. Martin has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience.  He joined combined insurance in 2011, bringing with him extensive experience in management and development of worksite-style businesses. Martin spent 17 years with Trustmark, where he helped build and lead the company's voluntary business unit.  

Northern Trust appointed Keishi Yamamoto to lead its asset management business in Japan. Yamamoto replaced Hidehiro Nakayama, who retired later in 2017 as current president and representative director. Reporting to John McCareins, managing director, Asia-Pacific at Northern Trust Asset Management, Yamamoto manages the continued growth and evolution of Northern Trust Asset Management’s business in Japan, and is responsible for sales, product development, client service and operational teams in Tokyo. Yamamoto has around 25 years of investment management experience. Prior to Northern Trust, he was head of pensions at Wellington Management Japan Pte. 

Adamas Finance Asia, an Asian investment company listed in London, appointed Dr Lee George Lam as a non-executive director. Dr Lam is chairman of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company and the non-executive chairman of Macquarie Bank’s infrastructure and real assets business in the Hong Kong and ASEAN region. Dr Lam is also a member of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's committee on innovation, technology and re-Industrialization, and other organisations Hong Kong.

Ashwin Jayaram joined Bank J Safra Sarasin in Singapore as a managing director, following his departure from Credit Suisse where he was a team head covering the non-resident Indian market. Prior to Credit Suisse, Jayaram spent six years at BSI as MD and team head. Also joining as of October from Bank of Singapore are Nakul Beri as MD and Divij Chopra who comes in as an executive director. Both were formerly with Barclays before the takeover of the Asia business by Bank of Singapore. All three report to Vinay Gandhi who joined the bank earlier this year from UBS as chief executive of the ultra-high net worth Asia division.