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Weekly roundup of people news, Oct 9

Bank of Singapore adds China market head; CDIB Capital expands team; HK SFC re-appoints chairman; Zurich promotes HK life CEO; Principal GI poaches from World Bank; Hawksford boosts Asia presence; Asria, PRI join forces; and Asifma names chairman.
Weekly roundup of people news, Oct 9

Bank of Singapore appoints China market head 
Bank of Singapore (BoS) has named Wee Yee Yeong in the newly created role of market head for its Greater China team with effect from September 29. He was previously team head of Greater China at Credit Suisse in Singapore. The Swiss bank declined to comment on his departure. 

Based in Singapore, Wee reports to Sermon Kwan, global marketing head of Greater China and chief executive of the private bank’s Hong Kong branch.

Wee is now responsible for executing BoS’s growth plans for Greater China. He is also responsible for the administrative and compliance functions for the Greater China team based in Singapore. His responsibilities were previously looked after by other staff members.

Wee has also held positions with banks including Citi, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and UBS across Singapore and Hong Kong.

Taiwan PE firm CDIB expands team
CDIB Capital International, the private equity arm of Taiwanese merchant bank China Development Financial, has expanded its investment team and hired its first compliance officer, among other appointments.

Grant Lin joined in San Francisco on September 22 as a senior vice president on the investment team. He was previously based in Hong Kong, covering Asian consumer and retail sectors for Morgan Stanley and before that UBS.

Lin’s role was created after the firm raised its first PE fund at the end of July to help it identify US and Chinese companies to acquire.

CDIB Capital, which manages $1.1 billion, also promoted Steven Wu to managing director on October 5. He has worked for the firm for nine years, most recently as a senior vice president with China Venture Management, CDIB’s venture capital arm. Before that, he worked for VC firm WI Harper in Taipei and Central Investment Holding Company.

Wu and Lin are focused on sourcing, underwriting and portfolio management of cross-border China-Taiwan and China-US investments, respectively.

Meanwhile, CDIB Capital’s Hong Kong office has seen three recent arrivals, all of whom started on September 22.

Margaret Sang is the firm’s first compliance and administration vice president from SK Securities, where she was chief operating officer for Hong Kong.

Elizabeth Lee joined as investor relations assistant vice president from Goldman Sachs, replacing Pamela Fang, who left in November 2014 to join PE firm Actis Capital.

Nicole Sham has arrived as a fund accountant – a newly created role – from Citi’s PE services division.

Zurich promotes HK life head to regional role
Zurich Insurance has appointed Paula Choi as global life chief market management officer for Asia Pacific, in addition to her role as global life chief executive for Hong Kong. The role incorporates oversight of the unit-linked product business for the region.

Choi replaces Walter Jopp, who relocated to Dubai as head of market management for the Middle East and Africa. 

Choi has in the past held a regional role in the form of Asia-Pacific chief operations officer. As such, she played a key part in initiatives including establishing Zurich Insurance Malaysia and Zurich Indonesia Life.

Hong Kong SFC re-appoints Tong as Chairman
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has re-appointed Carlson Tong as chairman for a term of three years, effective from October 20. He has served as a non-executive director of the SFC since April 1, 2011 and was first appointed chairman on October 20, 2012.

Principal GI Hires ex-World Bank treasurer
US asset manager Principal Global Investors has hired Madelyn Antoncic as executive director for institutional investment solutions based in New York.

Reporting to chief executive Jim McCaughan, Antoncic covers sovereign wealth funds, government pension funds, central banks, insurance companies and endowments globally. She will be a regular visitor to Asia in her new role.

This is a newly created role reflecting the expansion of the business and increasing opportunities to provide more complex support to this client segment, said the firm. It did not clarify by press time whose remit these duties previously fell under.

Antoncic was previously treasurer at the World Bank until she stepped down in July. There she oversaw $140 billion in assets under management. This included assets of official institutions around the world, as well as the World Bank Group’s $22 billion in pension assets. She also oversaw the World Bank’s $135 billion derivatives portfolio, its funding programme and its capital management. 

Antoncic was succeeded at the World Bank by Arunma Oteh, formerly director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria.

Antoncic began her career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and has also worked for Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers.

PRI, Asria to join forces in Asia
London-based network Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is joining forces with the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia (Asria) with the aim of expanding the two organisations' influence in Asia.

Asria will integrate its team into PRI and operate as its presence in Asia. This will enable to Asria to have a greater impact on responsible investment in the region, said the two organisations.

“Asria has been a champion and advocate for responsible investment across Asia for more than a decade,” said Fiona Reynolds, managing director at the UN-supported PRI. “We have seen a growing appetite across the region from global investors who want to better understand how ESG [environmental, social and governance] issues can impact investment in fast-growing Asian economies.”

A large number of Asria’s members were already PRI signatories. The organisations have a strong track record of working together, co-hosting events, developing joint publications and policy responses, and providing education and training through the PRI Academy, of which Asria is the exclusive Asian partner.

The agreement has been approved by Asria’s board, with member approvals currently being sought and expected to be secured by the end of October.

Hawksford strengthens Asian presence 
Fund and private client services firm Hawksford is expanding its Asian presence with two new hires and a secondment from its Jersey headquarters.

Group chief operations officer Steve Spybey has transferred to Singapore to support further growth and consolidate integration across the company’s international offices. Previously based in Jersey, he will work closely with the existing team, which is led by Asia COO Jacqueline Low.

Alan Ang and Emma Green have also joined Hawksford’s Singapore office.

Ang comes in as business development manager from corporate services firm Boardroom, where he was head of sales. He replaces Lauren O’Neill, who has left the company. Hawksford declined to comment on her departure.

Green joins as trust manager, having previously held trust roles in Jersey and Switzerland before moving to Singapore in 2013. She was most recently assistant manager at Asiaciti Trust in Singapore.

Hawksford had established a presence in Singapore in March 2014 by acquiring Janus Corporate Solutions and opened an office in Hong Kong in February 2015.

Asifma elects StanChart exec as new chairman
The Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (Asifma) has elected a new chairman, namely Gene Kim, Greater China and North Asia head of financial markets at Standard Chartered Bank.  

He comes in to oversee the trade body’s new three-year business plan and replaces David Ratliff, who remains on the board as chairman ex-officio. Ratliff is head of banking and markets for the Asia-Pacific public sector group at Citi.

The core initiatives Asifma is currently working on include: ongoing technical issues for the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect cross-border trading link, the expected launch of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, the launch of a China Bond Connect, cyber-security for the financial sector and regional compliance with G20, FSB and Basel commitments. 

Latham & Watkins adds partner in Hong Kong
Law firm Latham & Watkins has hired Du Yilong in Hong Kong as a partner in the corporate department. He joins from Goldman Sachs in the same city, where he was senior counsel.

Du has worked on equity capital markets transactions in mainland China, Hong Kong and the US, as well as cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

He has advised Chinese blue-chip companies, many state-owned enterprises and several of the largest private companies in China, said Latham & Watkins.

Corporate services firm Elian hires in HK
UK-based corporate services firm Elian has appointed Jennifer Pau as an associate director in its Hong Kong office.

She joins from HSBC’s corporate trust and loan agency, where she was vice president of business development for Asia Pacific. Prior to this, she held a similar role at Deutsche Bank.

Pau brings capital services experience to the role, with a particular focus on corporate debt issuance, structured products, project finance, syndicated loans, escrows and IPOs.

Elian offers corporate services, fund services, private wealth services, capital and due diligence services.

Other people news reported this past week on AsianInvestor.net:

Axa IM adds Asia head of sovereigns

T. Rowe Price begins intermediary sales buildout

Mirae Asset bolsters Asia team, products

GPIF names global bond managers, outlines strategy

Manulife still seeking to fill senior distribution role

Henderson bolsters Asian equities team

EFG AM targets retail entry in Hong Kong

Temasek adjusts management structure

¬ Haymarket Media Limited. All rights reserved.
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