Columbia Threadneedle hires ex-Syz salesman

UK-based Columbia Threadneedle Investments has recruited Tommy Ho from Swiss firm Syz Asset Management, which recently pulled out of Asia.

Ho joined Columbia Threadneedle in November as director of wholesale distribution in Hong Kong, where the firm has a headcount of 11.

A spokeswoman for the firm declined to say whether he had replaced anyone.

Ho (pictured left) had been a senior vice president at Syz AM, part of Switzerland’s Banque Syz, which shut down its Hong Kong office at the end of last year, as first reported by AsianInvestor. Its Oyster fund range will no longer be sold in the city.

Other ex-Syz staff have also found new employment recently. The former head of Asia sales, Suzanna Wong, started at Vontobel Asset Management this month as Asia head of intermediary distribution, and Tina Siu joined Invesco’s institutional sales team in November.

The speed with which the trio were snapped up underlines the level of demand for experienced sales staff in the region’s asset management industry.

Ho had been with Syz since March 2015, before which he was vice president for wholesale distribution at Dutch fund house Robeco and an investment counselor at HSBC. He also spent five years as a senior investment strategy manager at Fubon Bank, and worked for Citi, Bank of America and Hang Seng Bank, according to his LinkedIn page.