AsianInvestor’s weekly roundup of job-hoppers, April 20
Goldfeld leaves Goldman PWM to join Amundi as investment director
Amundi Asset Management announced it had hired Leon Goldfeld from Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management as an investment director.
He joined on April 17 and takes responsibility for balanced portfolios, including pan-Asia strategies and providing portfolio reviews to clients and the in-house sales team. He now reports to former boss Ayaz Ebrahim, Amundi’s CIO for Asian equities ex-Japan.
Ebrahim succeeded Ray Jovanovich after he left in the middle of last year and returned to the US to pursue personal projects. Ebrahim had been regional CIO of HSBC Asset Management previously based in Hong Kong.
Goldfeld had worked at Goldman Sachs PWM since 2010 as managing director of its investment strategy group, where he focused on emerging market equity. From 2004 to 2010 he was CIO at HSBC Global Asset Management (Hong Kong).
Citi flies in Nappi replacement to head Asia-Pacific transaction services
US bank Citi has appointed Amol Gupte from its North American business to become Asia-Pacific head of transaction services, effective from May 1.
He will be based in Hong Kong and reports to Rodrigo Zorilla, the bank’s Asia-Pacific chief operating officer, and Francesco Vanni d’Archirafi, the CEO of Citi Transaction Services (CTS).
Gupte has worked at Citi for 23 years and is currently head of treasury and trade solutions for the North American region. Before joining CTS, he was with Citi’s consumer bank in India and held roles in sales, product management and treasury.
He succeeds Anthony Nappi, who was recently promoted to chief administrative officer for Citi Asia-Pacific.
CTS offers integrated trade and treasury solutions and securities and fund services to multi-national corporations, financial institutions and the public sector.
Credit Suisse fills expanded macro research role
Credit Suisse’s private banking business announced it had brought in Chew Soon Gek from Clariden Leu as head of strategy and economic research for Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore.
Chew is responsible for cross asset class portfolio strategy and macroeconomic research for the region, reporting to Fan Cheuk Wan, Asia-Pacific head of research for private banking.
Her remit is an expanded one and follows the departure of Joseph Tan, the firm’s Asia chief economist for private banking, in February.
Further, Credit Suisse private banking revealed it had also re-hired Kum Soek Ching as head of Southeast Asia equity research, also based in Singapore, after a period of leave for personal reasons of less than one year. She had worked in the role before that from 2005 to mid-2011.
In the interim her function was performed by Eric Guller, who was transferred from its private banking research team in Zurich, where he was head of emerging market and thematic research.
After Kum’s return, Guller has recently taken on the role of head of product Asia-Pacific within the multi asset-class solutions group of the bank’s asset management business in Asia.
Chew’s appointment comes after Credit Suisse completed its integration of subsidiary Clariden Leu on April 2. She had worked at Clariden as head of portfolio management and investment strategy Asia from 2009.
Previously she worked as CIO of Deutsche Bank private wealth management Asia Pacific and CIO of ING Asia Private Bank. She has also held senior roles in institutional fund management at DBS Asset Management and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, where she was a fund manager and senior economist.
Financial planner AMTD opens China wealth management centre
Hong Kong-based financial services provider AMTD announced it had opened its first wealth management centre in China.
The Guangzhou centre has been set up to provide a range of investment services and products, including consultancy on investment trusts, private equity investment, retirement schemes, the formation of education funds and wealth management planning.
Alan Tsang, director and chief executive officer of AMTD, says: “We have been sending members of our senior management team to run the business in China and providing support and experience-sharing with the local team.
“We believe our China development will replicate our success in Hong Kong and contribute significantly to the group’s overall revenue."
AMTD is a subsidiary of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa and was established in 2003. It offers financial planning services to individual and corporate clients.
Sarasin adds head of credit management for Asia from Clariden
Swiss firm Bank Sarasin appointed Janice Lee from Clariden Leu as its new head of credit management for Asia, along with two of her former colleagues.
Based in Singapore as a managing director, Lee reports to Peter Attiger, Sarasin’s head of group credit, and Enid Yip, the firm’s chief executive officer for Asia.
Lee has previously worked to grow credit businesses at private banks in the region, including product innovation and credit structures for ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Lee joined from Clariden Leu, where she had been Asia chief credit officer since 2009. Prior to that she was regional head of credit risk management at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management. She has also worked for UBS, Citibank and DBS.