AsianInvestor’s roundup of job-hoppers, Dec 2
Qantas Super names ex-JP Morgan Chase banker as CEO
Qantas Superannuation unveiled a new chief executive in the form of Jane Perry.
Perry, whose role becomes effective on February 1, will take over from Andrew Spence, who was acting in the CEO role in addition to his CIO duties following the departure of former CEO Jane Torney this August after four years.
In a statement Perry says she wants to improve service and benefits to the 33,000 members of the 75-year-old fund, which has about $6 billion in assets under management.
Perry is the former CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Company’s treasury and custody business in Australia and New Zealand. She has also worked as COO of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings.
Leo’s resignation sparks MAS management reshuffle
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has paid tribute to Leo Mun Wai after he resigned as assistant managing director of its capital markets group.
Leo is scheduled to leave MAS after 13 years’ service in February and his departure has sparked an internal management reshuffle.
MAS managing director Ravi Menon praised Leo for “strengthening and transforming areas that he worked in – ranging from the first round of banking liberalisation in 1998 to MAS’ human resource policies and steering our banking sector through the 2008-09 global financial crisis”.
Leo will be succeeded internally by Lee Chuan Teck, its assistant managing director for markets and investment, while Lee’s vacated role will be filled by Andrew Khoo, assistant MD of policy, risk and surveillance.
In a domino effect, Khoo’s position will be taken by Jacqueline Loh, who relinquishes her portfolio overseeing finance, information technology and risk to Low Kwok Mun.
Meanwhile Lee Boon Ngiap, assistant managing director of the banking and insurance group, will oversee Low’s vacated position as executive director of the complex institutions department until a replacement is found.
A spokesman for MAS declined to comment further.
Credit Suisse finds replacement after Asia COO Khanna skips to Pictet
Following AsianInvestor enquiries, Swiss private bank Pictet & Cie announced this week it had hired Anuj Khanna from Credit Suisse as its head of wealth management for South Asia.
Khanna is due to start on January 9 based in Singapore in what is something of a surprise. He quit as Asia-Pacific COO for Credit Suisse’s private banking business in August, having served in the role for just a year.
He had spent the previous four years since 2006 as its North Asia head, and when asked by AsianInvestor once he had quit if he planned to stay in private banking, he replied: “Absolutely. All my good friends, networks and relationships with clients and employees are in Hong Kong. I would love to continue that relationship.”
It means Pictet has persuaded him to relocate to the Lion City for a regional role. Pictet’s recently appointed Asia head Claude Haberer has only just confirmed ex-BNP Paribas colleague Sharon Chou as North Asia head, effective from January 1. She will replace Franco Cheng, who in effect is retiring but remains affiliated as a senior adviser to the board.
At Pictet, Khanna succeeds Stephane Schmid, managing director and senior private banker who will transfer his management responsibilities to focus on serving clients.
Many in the industry considered that Khanna had been shifted sideways at Credit Suisse when he was reassigned to COO under the reign of former Asia-Pacific CEO Marcel Kreis. It came as part of a move by Credit Suisse to restructure its regional private banking business last year.
The change to a flattened structure saw Francois Monnet switched from head of private banking Southeast Asia to head of ultra-high-net-worth individuals covering all markets except Hong Kong, PRC and Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Khanna was handed the regional COO role following the departure of previous incumbent Tom Allen.
In July, Credit Suisse announced that Kreis would assume a new role as chairman of Asia-Pacific private banking, effective from January 1, 2012. He will be succeeded by Francesco de Ferrari, who relocated in August and takes over as Asia-Pacific head of private banking next January.
Rudy Ditz, Credit Suisse’s COO for private banking in Singapore, had been acting as COO for Asia-Pacific private banking while the bank scouted for a replacement.
Sources confirm Credit Suisse has re-hired Rolf Aeberli as COO for Asia-Pacific private banking effective from December 1 and based in Singapore. He reports to De Ferrari and functionally to Rolf Bögli.
Aeberli started at Credit Suisse in 1980 and was with the bank for 19 years, latterly as CFO of Credit Suisse Banking. From 2002 to 2006 he was CFO of Julius Baer in Zurich and after that served as CEO at two Swiss private banks, Banca del Gottardo and Privatbank Maerki Baumann.
Bank of Singapore hires Chung for Greater China, targets Shanghai venture
Bank of Singapore welcomed Pauline Chung from Julius Bear this week as its sixth market head for Greater China as the firm ramps up its drive to enter the mainland China market.
Chung takes the title head of strategic planning for Greater China and reports to Sermon Kwan, chief executive and overall head for Greater China and Korea.
Kwan explains that Bank of Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of OCBC, is in the process of applying for regulatory approval to set up a wealth management department within OCBC in Shanghai. OCBC has 14 branches in eight Chinese provinces.
While not wanting to second-guess the regulators, Kwan is hopeful the venture will be up and running next year and says the firm has already earmarked a leader for it, without naming who.
“We work together very closely with OCBC, which has a good commercial and corporate platform,” says Kwan. “They also deal with business owners, who need private banking services. We believe this is one differentiating factor for Bank of Singapore.”
AsianInvestor has reported that Bank of Singapore has around 60 bankers covering Greater China, based out of Singapore and Hong Kong. Its approach does not recognise boundaries between Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China but treats the whole as an integrated region.
Chung has worked in Asian wealth management for a quarter of a century, most recently as managing director and China market head for Julius Baer in Hong Kong. She has also worked at HSBC Private Bank and UBS in Hong Kong.
Asked what Chung would bring to the bank, Bank of Singapore’s Asia-Pacific CEO Renato de Guzman tells AsianInvestor from Los Angeles: “A wealth of experience and knowledge of China, Hong Kong and private banking.”
A spokesman for Julius Baer did not respond by press time.
EIP makes strategic hires
Hong Kong-based asset management firm Enhanced Investment Products (EIP) has made some strategic hires as it seeks to grow its alpha and beta business.
Paul So, who joined the firm last May as head of beta products, has been striving to strengthen the firm’s beta offering and move his side of the business further into exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
So was formerly head of portfolio management for Asia ex-Japan at iShares, the ETF division of BlackRock, in Hong Kong and managed over $6.8 billion in Asian ETFs.
Since its 2002 inception, EIP has provided beta investment opportunities in Asian emerging markets through its Enhanced Index Funds, predominantly to institutional investors.
Taiwan-bron Alex Hsieh has joined EIP as portfolio manager after a stint at China Southern Fund Management Company, where he launched the first qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) fund in China and raised about $8 billion.
“Hsieh’s appointment to EIP is important in understanding, attracting and accessing the investors in Greater China,” the firm says in a statement.
Further, Ada yin joins as a portfolio manager. She is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (type 4 and 9) and has nine years’ experience as a PM. Prior to joining EIP, Yin was senior portfolio manager for ETF, index and structured products at BNP Paribas Asset Management Asia ex-Japan.
And sales manager Kennis Lee has joined EIP from Prudential Asset Management, where she worked in the mutual funds retail distribution team.
As reported by AsianInvestor, EIP recruited Rui Tang as head of business development in August to lead the firm’s growth strategy including hedge and long-only business lines.
She is tasked with devising and executing the marketing strategy for existing products; developing and launching new products; and evaluating business JV opportunities.
Tang reports directly to CEO Toby Bland. It comes after the departure of Stewart Aldcroft, the firm’s previous head of business development for beta products.
EIP has also hired Victor Kwok from Australian law firm Mallesons Stephen Jacques as head of legal and compliance, a new independent function reporting to the board.
AXA IM relocates senior Asia economist to Hong Kong
AXA Investment Managers announced the relocation of Hervé Lievore from the UK to Hong Kong as senior Asia economist.
Lievore joined AXA IM in 2007 as a macro strategist. He continues to report to Eric Chaney, AXA Group chief economist and AXA IM head of research.
“Asia is playing an increasingly important role in the global economy,” says Chaney. “It is crucial to understand emerging economies from a macroeconomic standpoint. [Lievore’s] relocation to Asia will further deepen AXA IM’s knowledge on the region.”
Jean-Pierre Leoni, head of AXA IM Asia Pacific, added: “[Lievore’s] presence in Asia will help us to attend to our clients’ queries in a more timely manner.”
Before joining AXA IM, Lievore worked for 11 years at Natixis, where he successively held the position of deputy head of financial information service and Asian economist.
Other moves reported by AsianInvestor this week:
Barclays Wealth expands Greater China coverage to Singapore
Kames Capital to open HK office, targets Asia build-out