Weekly roundup of people news, August 19
KIC and Bank of Korea veteran Choo starts at World Bank
Former Korea Investment Corporation chief investment officer Choo Heung-sik has taken up his new duties at the World Bank Treasury.
He has been named director of the investment management department and took up his duties in Washington, DC on August 8. KIC previously announced the appointment of Kang Shinwoo, former president and chief executive of Hanwha Asset Management, as its new CIO.
Choo's new department manages assets of $140 billion for internal and external clients, including the International Monetary Fund and more than 50 central banks.
He said in an email sent to his contacts: "It is my great honor to take this new position as I cannot think of a better place to continue my career after working at the central bank and sovereign wealth funds where I focused on more efficient foreign reserves management."
A former director general and head of reserve management at Bank of Korea, where he worked for 30 years, Choo joined KIC as CIO in March 2014.
Choo left KIC in June after announcing his departure in February, soon after controversial former chairman 'Hank' Ahn Hong-chul was replaced by Eun Sung-soo.
The $90 billion sovereign wealth fund's chief operating officer and chief risk officer also stepped down alongside Choo, as Eun attempted to draw a line under a highly critical audit report that found evidence of 'serious wrongdoing' at KIC.
Manulife AM names new Singapore fixed income head
Canada's Manulife Asset Management has appointed Murray Collis as Singapore head of fixed income. He most recently headed Asian fixed income at Standish Mellon Asset Management, and has 20 years of experience in asset management, in London, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Collis now reports to Endre Pedersen, Manulife AM’s CIO for Asia ex-Japan fixed income, and Wendy Lim, Singapore chief executive of Manulife AM. Lim herself only joined the firm in December 2015, as previously reported.
Collis will oversee a local team of three fund managers and analysts who run fixed income strategies from Singapore.
Manulife AM had previously had a Singapore head of fixed income, Pang Cheng Duan, who reportedly left on May 30, 2014 after four years with the firm. Pedersen had then reportedly taken on management of the Singapore fixed income team, and Luc Froehlich, Hong Kong-based senior director of Asian fixed income had assumed Pang's portfolio management responsibilities. Froehlich was then promoted and relocated as Singapore head of fixed income in March 2015, but then left the firm in May this year.
Manulife declined to respond to questions on Collis’s appointment. BNY Mellon Investment Management, parent of Standish Mellon, did not immediately respond to queries about his departure.
Citi loses Indonesia head of wealth
Commonwealth Bank in Indonesia has appointed Ivan Jaya as head of wealth management and customer segments. He was hired from rival Citibank in Indonesia, where he had been head of wealth management since 2014.
Based in Jakarta, Jaya joined the Australian subsidiary two weeks ago, reporting to Rustini Dewi, consumer banking director. Jaya replaced Rian Kaslan, who moved to become corporate strategy head.
“I’m responsible for providing wealth management services by developing investments, bancassurance products and foreign exchange on top of savings accounts and term deposits to retail bank clients,” Jaya told AsianInvestor.
Citi said it had appointed Rusmin Mudjianto as head of wealth management in Indonesia, effective July 1. He was previously Citi's wealth management sales and advisory head, according to his Linkedin profile.
Jaya first joined Citi as head of retail bank segment and marketing in 2013, and moved up to head of wealth management. Before that he was head of consumer banking business planning and customer analytics at ANZ Indonesia.
Commonwealth Bank claims to be one of the top three distributors of mutual funds in Indonesia, with 15% market share. Indonesia’s total assets under management are reported to be $23 billion.
Invesco's Asia head of product leaves Hong Kong
Bryan Perryman, Asia-Pacific head of product, marketing and strategy at Invesco, is understood to have relocated to the US from Hong Kong. He held the role for three years, according to his LinkedIn page.
The US-based fund house declined to comment on the reason for the move, what he is doing now or what would happen to his previous role, citing internal company policy.
Orrick recruits commercial litigator from Sidley
International law firm Orrick has added leading litigator and commercial litigation specialist Charles Allen as a partner in its complex litigation and dispute resolution practice in its Hong Kong office.
He joins Orrick's global litigation practice, which numbers 450 across Asia, Europe and the United States, as its only representative on the ground in Hong Kong
Allen joins from Sidley Austin, where he led the commercial litigation practice in Hong Kong. He had been a partner at Sidley Austin since 2007 after joining as a counsel in 2002.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:
Zurich poaches Asia chief from Generali
Vontobel AM hires to widen client focus in Japan
OMGI names first China head to lead expansion
Value Partners explains AUM drop, hires COO and Singapore head