RBC hires Asian equities head from JP Morgan AM

Mayur Nallamala, who previously oversaw $4 billion at JP Morgan Asset Management, has joined RBC Global Asset Management to head its $1.5 billion Asian equities division.

He is now responsible for managing the Canadian firm's Asian equity assets and overseeing the firm’s team of portfolio managers and analysts in Hong Kong. He also provides analysis of Asian equities and regional economies to the firm’s investment teams.

Nallamala was a managing director at JP Morgan AM in Hong Kong, where he managed Asia-Pacific ex-Japan mandates for institutional and retail clients globally. He worked there for eight years.

A JP Morgan AM spokesman tells AsianInvestor that Nallamala’s “accounts have been reassigned”, but declined to give more details.

Nallamala reports to chief investment officer Dan Chornous and replaces Yoji Takeda at RBC Global AM, who will retire in the coming months, says an RBC spokesman. Takeda spent over 20 years as an equity portfolio manager at the firm, and helped to establish its presence in the region, adds the spokesman.

Nallamala now works directly with Adam Matthews, a former colleague at JP Morgan AM. Matthews, a managing director, joined the Canadian firm in 2011 and leads the firm’s business development initiatives in Asia Pacific.

Separately, RBC Wealth Management has hired Herman Poon from Singaporean fund house Lion Global Investors as an investment manager in its discretionary business. Based in Hong Kong, he reports to Charlotte Wun, CIO for the division.