AsianInvestor's weekly roundup of job-hoppers, Oct 21
Barclays Wealth poised to appoint Goldman veteran as Greater China head
Goldman Sachs veteran Januar Tjandra has quit the US bank’s private wealth management business and is set to join Barclays Wealth as head of Greater China, AsianInvestor understands.
Tjandra has been working at Goldman Sachs since the mid-1990s, most recently catering to the needs of Taiwanese clients offshore from Hong Kong.
But he quit Goldman this September and is poised to join Barclays Wealth in December after completion of his gardening leave. It is understood he has been hired in a new role for the firm as head of Greater China and will be reporting to North Asia head Pakorn Boonyakurkul.
A spokesman for Barclays Wealth was unable to confirm or deny the information at press time, while a spokeswoman for Goldman confirmed Tjandra had left. Asked if Goldman would seek to replace Tjandra, she added only that the firm already has a team to cover Taiwanese clients.
Barclays Wealth hired Boonyakurkul from HSBC Private Bank in May to replace Joanna Chu as head of North Asia in a targeted drive to accelerate its Greater China growth. Chu assumed the role of market head and chief country officer for Hong Kong.
The private banking arm of the UK’s Barclays Bank achieved booking-centre status in Hong Kong late last year, which it wants to use as a springboard for growth in Greater China above all.
EM debt build-out gathers pace for First State Investments
First State Investments (FSI) has added three investment specialists to its newly established emerging markets debt team in London as it continues to fill out a product gap.
The international arm of Colonial First State – Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s asset management business – has hired Jan-Markus May from Uniqa Financial Services and Manuel Canas from ING Investment Management, both as senior portfolio managers, and Philip Fielding from F&C Asset Management as portfolio manager.
May started last month, Fielding this week and Canas is due to start on November 1, all reporting to Helene Williamson, the 30-year market veteran whom FSI brought on board last month in London to lead this fledgling team.
Williamson receives research support from two staff in Hong Kong – head of Asian fixed interest Murray Collis and portfolio manager Nigel Foo – and six in Sydney: a head of credit research, a credit manager, three credit analysts and a structured finance analyst. They all report to Tony Adams and Warren Bird, co-heads of global fixed interest and credit based in Sydney.
In a previous interview, FSI’s regional managing director for Asia and Japan, Michael Stapleton, told AsianInvestor Williamson’s addition was just a first step in developing the capability and that new products would be launched around an incoming team.
In a statement, Williamson points to growing interest in the favourable debt dynamics of emerging market countries and the recent widening of credit spreads there.
May was most recently senior portfolio manager of the Uniqa emerging markets debt fund in Vienna. Prior to that he was client service manager at Dresdner Bank in Frankfurt.
Canas had been senior investment manager focusing on local currency debt with the emerging markets debt team at ING Investment Management in the Hague. Prior to that he worked as portfolio manager at Banco Central de le Republica Argentina.
Fielding was portfolio manager for segregated mandates in the emerging markets debt team as well as lead analyst for Central Europe at F&C Management.
As at June 30 this year FSI had almost $160 billion in assets under management.
Manulife AM names HK-based director of Asian fixed income
Manulife Asset Management announced it had appointed Luc Froehlich in a newly created role as director of Asian fixed income based in Hong Kong.
Starting on August 15, he is primarily responsible for US dollar-denominated credit exposure within Asia fixed income strategies and provides credit analysis and investment recommendations on high-yield issuers. He reports directly to Endre Pedersen, managing director of Asia fixed income.
Manulife’s Asia fixed income team in Hong Kong now comprises 14 investment professionals, of whom six are portfolio managers and eight are credit analysts and traders. Across its 10 offices in the region the firm has a total of more than 40 fixed income investment staff.
Froehlich joins from Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in London, where he was a portfolio manager and trader for its loan and credit derivatives portfolio. Prior to that he worked at Credit Suisse in Zurich.
Yu-Ming Wang, Manulife AM’s head of fixed income for Asia, suggests Froehlich’s credit experience will help the firm to target what he described as under-researched credits for Asian fixed income strategies focusing on the Manulife Global Fund – Asia Total Return Fund.
As at June 30 this year, Manulife AM had $217 billion in assets under management.
Equity product specialist Adams swaps BlackRock for HSBC
HSBC Global Asset Management has appointed Christopher Adams from BlackRock in a new role as director and senior product specialist for equities based in Hong Kong.
Having started in mid-October, he is responsible for supporting the firm’s Asian equity capability, including Greater China equities.
It comes after the firm transferred HSBC veteran Bill Maldonado from London to Hong Kong this August to serve as its chief investment officer for Asia-Pacific. He also has responsibility as global strategy CIO for equities.
Beneath Maldonado, HSBC Global AM has two Asian equity heads, Michael Dillon and Husan Pai, both of whom are based in Hong Kong.
Maldonado, who first joined HSBC’s asset management business in 1993, replaced Ayaz Ebrahim who quit HSBC in May this year to join Amundi in an expanded role that includes serving as equities investment director for Asia.
Adams reports locally to Alfred Yip, HSBC's head of product for Asia-Pacific, and functionally to Melissa McDonald, global head of product – equities and responsible investment.
Yip notes that HSBC GAM has moved to add senior product specialists “in view of the evolving global market situation and investor needs”.
In July this year HSBC GAM also relocated Geoffrey Lunt from London to Hong Kong to take up the role of director and senior product specialist for fixed income.
Prior to joining HSBC, Adams was vice-president and product specialist for BlackRock’s Asia ex-Japan active equity capability. Prior to that he held similar roles in Prudential Asset Management in Hong Kong.
HSBC Global AM has $453 billion in assets under management overall, with $139 billion invested in emerging markets.
Other moves reported by AsianInvestor this week:
Sail Advisers hires Sjef Pieters from Lyxor
Stuart Guinness returns to buy-side with Credit Suisse
Nikko AM drafts in new management for Singapore