The latest moves in wealth management across Asia-Pacific.

Withers
Withers has hired Junko Pitt (Shiokawa) as a partner for its Hong Kong office. Junko joins from the Hong Kong office of Harneys, an offshore law firm.

Pitt specialises in investment funds, corporate and private clients. She has extensive experience acting as lead counsel for Japanese and other Asian financial institutions and investment managers in the structuring and formation of various types of funds, including private equity funds and hedge funds. She has also worked on a number of corporate matters, including Hong Kong IPOs and financing transactions of private and listed companies. In addition, she will continue to focus on Japanese private client matters including cross-border succession planning and divorce.

She started her career as a Japanese qualified lawyer (bengoshi) at Nagashima & Ohno (currently known as Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu). Prior to joining Withers, Pitt spent more than eight years working in offshore law firms. Before she moved to work in offshore law firms, she was a director at Barclays Capital Japan Limited and has also worked as an associate for Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in their New York and Tokyo offices.  

Citigroup
Citigroup has appointed Julie Kerr as the new Asia-Pacific head of custody and fund services in the bank’s Prime, Futures and Securities Services business. She takes over from Cheeping Yap, who has left Citigroup, a spokesperson told this publication when asked about the matter.

Kerr reports to David Russell, head of markets and Securities Services Hong Kong and globally to Sanjiv Sawhney, global head of Custody & Fund Services.
 
Prior to this, Kerr has spent two decades in client-facing roles in Asia-Pacific and joins Citi from EY where she was a partner in its Financial Services, Wealth and Asset Management division for Asia-Pacific.

J O Hambro Capital Management
Active asset manager J O Hambro Capital Management has appointed Aled Smith as investment director. Smith will join JOHCM on 24 September and will be based in London

Smith will provide investment oversight to JOHCM’s 16 investment teams, based in London, Boston, New York and Singapore, as well as the search for investment talent.

He most recently served as director, equities division at M&G Investments. Prior to M&G, Smith served as a buy-side analyst at JP Morgan Asset Management.