Weekly roundup of people news, Apr 7
Manulife AM poaches Japan CEO from Pimco
Manulife Asset Management has appointed Shinichi Yamamoto as president and chief executive for Japan, effective April 3. He succeeds Yoshihide Nagata, who had been with the firm since February 2012, but retired at the end of March and remains a board member.
Yamamoto reports to Michael Dommermuth, Hong Kong-based head of wealth and asset management for Asia at Manulife, and to Gavin Robinson, president and CEO of Manulife Japan.
Yamamoto was most recently Japan president and co-CEO at bond fund house Pimco, overseeing the pensions, financial institution and retail businesses. Akinori Matsui, who was Japan chairman and co-CEO at Pimco, is now managing director and sole CEO, a spokesperson said.
Yamamoto had been with Pimco since 2002 and was named president in March 2014.
Rayliant hires index specialist from Northern Trust
Rayliant Global Advisors, a Hong Kong-based provider of global smart beta and Greater China equity strategies, has appointed Ken Chuah as managing director to develop and oversee the firm’s portfolio management, trading and operations.
This is a newly created role, a spokesman told AsianInvestor. Rayliant has historically licensed its strategies to asset managers and index providers in Asia, but now plans to offer Greater China equity strategies directly to investors, he said.
Jason Hsu, Rayliant’s chairman and CIO, said Chuah was experienced at constructing Asia-focused investment solutions for global clients.
Chuah, who will join Rayliant on April 10, was most recently director of Asia-Pacific equity index at Northern Trust in Hong Kong, where he managed global equities for clients in the Asia Pacific region.
Before joining Northern Trust, Ken was equity index portfolio manager at State Street Global Advisors in Australia, and global asset allocation portfolio manager at Rothschild Australia Asset Management.
Aviva expands regional executive role
UK insurer Aviva has expanded the role of Randy Lianggara, regional head for Indonesia and Vietnam, to also cover China.
He took on the additional duties on April 1 and will relocate to Singapore from Jakarta for the expanded role, said a spokesman.
Aviva's coverage of China was previously dealt with by the firm's mainland joint venture, Aviva-Cofco Life Insurance, which is led by Richard Yu.
Lianggara will continue to report to Chris Wei, executive chairman of Aviva Asia. Lianggara joined Aviva as regional executive for Indonesia and Vietnam in June 2016.
HSBC PB hires counsellor from Credit Suisse
HSBC Private Banking has hired Shawn Yin from Credit Suisse as an investment counsellor in Hong Kong, reporting to Jackie Mau, Asia head of investment counselling.
HSBC declined to confirm the date of Yin’s appointment or whether he had replaced anyone. His LinkedIn page said he had been on gardening leave since December 2016.
At Credit Suisse Private Banking Yin was head of portfolio solutions for Hong Kong. He left at the end of December and has since been replaced, but the bank declined to identify his successor.
Yin has also worked at UBS Wealth Management and Citi.
CVC hires senior adviser in Japan
CVC Capital Partners, a UK-based private equity firm, has appointed Yoshiaki Fujimori as senior executive adviser in Japan.
Steve Koltes, co-Chairman of CVC, said Fujimori's expertise and contacts would help the firm source investments in Japan. Fujimori, who will be based in CVC's Tokyo office, serves on the boards of Tokyo Electric Power Company, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Boston Scientific.
Fujimori previously served for five years as chief executive at Lixil Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer of building materials and housing equipment. Before that, Fujimori spent 25 years at General Electric, most recently as chairman and CEO of GE Japan.
Hamilton Lane promotes duo in Asia to principals
Hamilton Lane, a US private equity giant, has promoted two executives in Asia to principals.
They are Collwyn Tan, Hong Kong-based vice president in the co-investments team, and Steve An Sungji, Seoul-based vice president for business development.
Tan and An were among a total of 15 promotions to principals across the business globally.
Indosuez WM adds NRI specialist
Indosuez Wealth Management has appointed Prad Goswami as senior director, effective 4 April, continuing its regional buildout.
Based in Singapore, he will report to Shailendra Kirtikar, head of the non-resident Indian (NRI) team. Goswami joins from Swiss firm Union Bancaire Privee, where he was a relationship manager in the NRI team and left on April 2, a spokesperson said.
Indosuez has hired several other senior bankers this year: Arjan de Boer as Asia head of markets and investment solutions; Stanley Yeo and Radhika Jasuja as senior directors in Hong Kong; and Lynda Leong as senior director in Singapore.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:
BNP Paribas wealth chief switch sparks questions