A roundup of Asia-Pacific wealth management industry moves in June.

HSBC Global Private Banking appointed Ann Ling as the new regional head of wealth planning and advisory for Asia-Pacific. She took up the role vacated by Henry Lam, who is retiring. At HSBC, Ling has developed the Hong Kong/London-headquartered bank's relationships with ultra-high net worth individuals and families, working in areas such as trusts, succession, and estate plans.

Nomura Asset Management, part of Japan’s Nomura, appointed Terence Lam in the newly-formed role of distribution head for Asia excluding Japan, based in Singapore. Lam reports to Kenichi Suzuki, senior managing director, head of the global business unit at NAM. Lam, who has more than 25 years’ experience in the asset management industry, was most recently a managing director and head of client group for the core Asia-Pacific area, at AXA Investment Managers Asia in Hong Kong.

IQ-EQ, the investor services group, appointed Divya Doshi as managing director, sales for Asia and the Middle East, and Koji Ikeda as MD, Japan. 

Ex-UBS senior figure Naushad Khan – a non-resident Indian (NRI) banker – joined Deutsche Bank. Khan joined Deutsche’s global South Asia team. Khan, based in Singapore, reports to Puneesh Nayar, market head for the global South Asia division. Prior to this, Khan worked at UBS, which he joined in 2023, and, before that, at EFG for more than 10 years as a private banker focused on the United Arab Emirates and GCC countries of the Gulf.

Carey Olsen, the law firm, promoted Hong Kong resident dispute resolution and insolvency lawyer Dhanshuklal Vekaria to the partnership. Vekaria, who previously practised in the Cayman Islands, joined the firm's dispute resolution and insolvency practice in Hong Kong in 2018.
 
Law firm Charles Russell Speechlys appointed Henry Winter and Gavin Margetson as partners in its commercial dispute resolution team. They joined from Mishcon de Reya  and are based in the firm's Singapore office.

UBS Asset Management named Desmond Ng as asset management region head for Asia-Pacific. Ng is based in Hong Kong and has worked in the asset management sector for 28 years. He joined from Allianz Global Investors where he was head of APAC, responsible for the retail and institutional businesses. 

Knight Frank, the real estate group, appointed two figures to join its capital markets business in Australia. Rob Sewell joined as partner, national head of institutional sales, leading Knight Frank’s national office team. Michael Kwok was promoted to partner, national head of capital markets. Both are based in Sydney.

Bank J Safra Sarasin appointed former JP Morgan senior figure May Hsu as chair for its Asia business. She succeeded Mignonne Cheng, who was made executive chairman for Asia. 

Hsu joined with two other private banking senior figures from JP Morgan, Guo Quan Ng and Lawrence Lee. Hsu and Ng report to Andy Chai, CEO for Asia.

In her previous role at JP Morgan Private Bank, Hsu was vice chair, Asia. She has worked in the wealth management space for almost four decades. Ng is a private banking veteran with more than 16 years of experience in the financial industry, including more than 14 years at JP Morgan Private Bank. Lee has almost 30 years of experience in the sector, with more than 20 years at JP Morgan Private Bank.

Bank of Singapore refreshed its CIO Global Advisory Council – launched last year – with four new members:

-- Dr Guo Kai, executive president, senior fellow, CF40 Institute; former economist at the International Monetary Fund, author of Chinese economics; 
-- John Emerson, former US ambassador to Germany and vice chair, Capital International; former US ambassador to Germany from 2013 to 2017; served as deputy assistant to former US president Clinton and appointed by former US president Obama to serve in his Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations; 
-- Joseph Zidle, chief investment strategist, Blackstone Private Wealth; spent nearly a decade at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, most recently as head of investment strategy for global wealth management and deputy director of the research investment committee; 
-- Torsten Slok, chief economist and partner, Apollo Global Management; worked for 15 years on the sell-side; investor in fixed income and equities for 10 years.

Royal London Asset Management appointed Kevin Haran as head of regional sales. He is based in Sydney. From 2018 to 2024, Haran was head of institutional sales, Australia and New Zealand, at Affiliated Managers Group Pty.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Malaysia appointed Wendy Ooi as head of the corporate banking department in Malaysia. Based in Malaysia and reporting to Nizar Faisal, deputy CEO of SMBC Malaysia, and Joyce Tee, head of corporate banking department Asia-Pacific, Ooi leads the bank’s non-Japanese corporate banking strategy in Malaysia.

Schroders named four senior figures, including a head of client group for Asia and country head for Hong Kong:

-- Karine Szenberg was appointed as executive vice chair, whilst Matt Oomen joined Schroders as global head of client group;    
-- In Asia, Gopi Mirchandani was named head of client group, Asia and Jason Yu was recruited for the Hong Kong country head position; 
-- Mirchandani succeeded Chris Durack, who was appointed to the newly-created role of chair for Asia until his departure on 31 December. Mirchandani reports to Oomen; and 

Szenberg, global head of client group, remained on the group executive committee in her new slot as executive vice chair and Oomen, who reports to Richard Oldfield, has worked for three decades in the financial services industry. He joined from US-headquartered BNY Investments.

Chi-man Kwan, group CEO of Raffles Family Office, was elected as president of the Hong Kong Singapore Business Association (HSBA). Dennis Chiu continued in his role as chairman of HSBA. 

Citigroup appointed Benny Aroeman as head of markets for Indonesia. He reports to Sue Lee, head of markets for Asia South and Batara Sianturi, Citi country officer and banking head for Indonesia.

Robeco appointed Thu Ha Chow as country head for Singapore, adding to her role as fixed income head for Asia. Thu Ha Chow, who joined the Dutch firm in 2022 to take on her existing role, has more than two decades’ experience in global fixed income markets. Prior to Robeco, she served as portfolio manager and Asia strategist at Loomis Sayles & Co, and as head of Asian credit at Aberdeen Asset Management – both roles were based in Singapore.

LGT, the Liechtenstein-headquartered private bank, said the chief executive of its Thailand business, Ekkapob Makeguljai, would be leaving at the end of 2025. He is based in Bangkok. Makeguljai is departing for personal reasons. 

Lansberg Gersick Advisors, a Connecticut, US-headquartered firm that advises family-run businesses, recruited a former UBS and Credit Suisse senior figure as a partner in Asia, based in Singapore. 

Thomas Ang leads its global practice for family offices and co-ordinates its advisory team in Asia. Prior to LGA, Ang was managing director and global co-head for family advisory, art and collecting at UBS Global Wealth Management. He founded Credit Suisse Family Office Services in 2008 and had served as the global head of Family Office Services until 2023.

Citigroup appointed John McLean as head of equity capital markets and global asset managers for Australia and New Zealand. McLean is head of GAM, the US bank’s financial sponsors business in the Asia-Pacific region.

Goldman Sachs appointed Ling Pong as the head of private wealth management for North Asia, filling the vacancy left by Nick Yim, who retired after working at the US financial powerhouse for more than 30 years.

Pong took on additional responsibilities as the head of the North Asian region at Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management. She continued to serve as head of PWM capital markets, equity structuring and managed strategies in Asia-Pacific. 

RBC Wealth Management appointed a raft of senior private bankers in Hong Kong. They support clients in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the wider region.

The appointees:
-- Angie Chow, executive director. With over 20 years of experience in private banking, Chow joined from HSBC Global Private Banking in Hong Kong; 
-- Becky Chu, managing director, joined RBC from Credit Suisse in Hong Kong; 
-- Erica Cheung, executive director. Cheung held senior positions at BNP Paribas Wealth Management and Bank of Singapore before joining RBC; 
-- Grace Yu, MD, joined RBC from UBS; 
-- Ingrid Lau, MD. Lau worked at Credit Suisse Private Bank in Hong Kong; and 
-- Roger Kiu, ED, was previously with J Safra Sarasin Group and Bank of Montreal. 

Citigroup appointed Wenjie Zhang as country officer and banking head for China, and president and executive director for Citibank (China) Co. He replaced Aveline San (who remained Hong Kong CCO and banking head ) who was interim for China after Luke Lu resigned for personal reasons late last year. Prior to this appointment, Zhang – who is based in Shanghai – was the president of China and Shanghai branch manager for Bank of America China. 

Aberdeen Investments appointed Pruksa Lamthongthong as head of equities for Asia Pacific. She succeeded Flavia Cheong, who was set to retire in December 2025 after a 30-year career with the firm. Cheong joined the company in 1997 as one of the first members of the Singapore office.

Paragon Capital Management appointed senior banking industry figure Trevor Lau as managing director and strategist, based in Singapore. Lau reports to Paul Lee, co-founder, CEO, and chief investment officer of PCM, and Irene Ng, chief operations officer and compliance/risk officer of PCM. Lau has more than 20 years’ private banking, wealth management and investment strategy experience in Asia; he held senior positions at Credit Suisse, Azura Investment Partners, UBS, and Citi Private Bank.

Julius Baer appointed Shui Wei Ho and Vi Sun Yang as market heads for Southeast Asia. They succeed Chin Lit Yee, who retired after nearly four decades in banking. Yee led the private bank’s Southeast Asia market in a variety of leadership positions and worked at Julius Baer for 10 years. 

Ho and Yang continue to be based in Singapore and report to Lee. Ho joined the bank as group head, Southeast Asia, in August 2022, later taking on the job of market head for Thailand, Japan and Asia Switzerland in January last year – a role which she retains. Ho, who was the market head for Thailand and Indochina at Bank of Singapore before joining Julius Baer, previously worked with UBS and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Yang joined the Swiss bank as group head for Southeast Asia in July 2022, having previously led the Singapore and Indonesia markets at UBS for 14 years.