Weekly roundup of people moves, Dec 14
NEW ZEALAND SUPER HIRES CIO FROM FUTURE FUND
The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, the crown entity that manages the NZ$39 billion ($26.5 billion) New Zealand Super Fund, has appointed Stephen Gilmore as its chief investment officer.
Gilmore was most recently chief investment strategist at the A$148 billion ($106.38 billion) Future Fund in Australia, where he held a series of senior investment roles between 2009 and 2018.
He will join NZ Super in late February 2019 and become a member of the Guardians’ Leadership Team and Investment Committee. He reports to chief executive Matt Whineray, who was the former CIO, before being appointed as chief executive in July.
Mark Fennell has been acting CIO, and will resume his role as general manager of portfolio completion, a spokeswoman for NZ Super told AsianInvestor.
At New Zealand Super, Gilmore will lead a 45-strong team of investment professionals responsible for the appointment and monitoring of the NZ Super’s external investment managers; New Zealand and international direct investment; responsible investment; and asset allocation, including macroeconomic strategy and the Guardians’ strategic tilting programme.
Gilmore left Future Fund in April, and his job responsibilities have been taken over by chief investment officer Raphael Arndt.
FRANKLIN TEMPLETON POACHES DUO FROM FULLERTON
Franklin Templeton Investments has hired made two senior hires from the Singapore-based fund house Fullerton Fund Management.
Firstly, Jason Zhu was appointed as Shanghai-based managing director and director of portfolio management for China within the Franklin Templeton emerging markets equity (FTEME) investment team.
He joined the fund house in October. In this role, Zhu assumes research and portfolio management responsibilities for China A-shares. Those duties are assumed by investment professionals in Franklin Templeton’s Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, but Zhu’s role was created to further strengthen the China investment team, a company spokeswoman said.
After Zhu’s departure, Fullerton appointed Karen Wu as portfolio manager for China equities in September to take over the management of onshore China equities fund. Wu was previously a portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton Sealand. At Fullerton, she reports directly to Kristen Lee, Singapore-based head of China equities, a company spokeswoman said.
Franklin Templeton has also appointed Shih Yu-jen as a Singapore-based portfolio manager and deputy director of research for FTEME, with a focus on portfolio management in Asia.
He joined the fund house in December. The company spokeswoman did not say specifically who looked after his current duties before he came on board, only noting that the fund house expects Shih to take on greater investment responsibilities within the Asia investment team, including the development of new investment strategies.
Shih's departure from Fullerton led Ken Goh, Singapore-based head of equities to take up his portfolio management responsibilities. Goh joined Fullerton in July 2017 and is responsible for leading Fullerton’s equities team in Singapore as well as overseas.
Both Zhu and Shih report to Sukumar Rajah, Singapore-based senior managing director and director of portfolio management for FTEME.
MANULIFE POACHES FROM METLIFE FOR ASIA CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER
Manulife has appointed Damien Green as chief strategy officer for Asia.
The appointment was effective on December 1. In this role, he ensures effective collaboration and alignment across the company to advance its transformation agenda of becoming a digital market leader. He reports to Anil Wadhwani, Manulife’s CEO for Asia. Both of them are based in Hong Kong.
Green has replaced Lucy Taylor-Smith, who left Manulife earlier this year, according to a company spokesman.
He was most recently the Seoul-based senior vice president and general manager of Metlife Korea, a position he left in September. Song Young-rok, the former chief financial officer in Metlife Korea, succeeded him in that role, said a company spokeswoman at Metlife.
UBS AM APPOINTS CHINA BUSINESS HEAD
UBS Asset Management has appointed Raymond Yin as head of China onshore and managing director.
The appointment was effective on December 12. Based in Shanghai, Yin is responsible for leading the execution of UBS AM's China strategy, including the further buildout of its onshore wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOEs) and continued development of the firm's joint venture with State Development Investment Corporation.
He reports to Rene Buehlmann, Hong Kong-based head of Asia Pacific at UBS AM.
Yin's is a newly created role. The buildout of UBS AM's WFOEs and the development of the joint venture were the responsibility of various senior executives who now report to Yin, a company spokesman said.
Yin was previously the CEO of Chongyang International Asset Management, which did not reply to AsianInvestor’s query about his departure.
ALLFUNDS HIRES INVESTMENT SOLUTIONS HEAD FOR ASIA
Allfunds, an institutional funds distribution platform based in Europe, has expanded its team in Asia with the appointment of Yee Tuck Meng, who has joined as head of investment solutions for Asia, effective December 10.
Yee is based in Singapore for the newly created role and reports to Alexis Fosler, regional manager for Asia at Allfunds.
Prior to joining Allfunds, he was the chief operating officer and co-chief investment officer for Malaysian family office JRT Partners. The organisation did not respond to queries from AsianInvestor on whether a replacement has been named.
The appointment comes as Allfunds seeks to boost its presence in Asia and expand its investment advisory team and portfolio solutions capabilities in Singapore, said a press statement.
He has also worked as senior vice president for alternatives for Asia Pacific at Citi Global Wealth Management, where he was responsible for fund analysis, development, support and marketing of Asian-focused alternative investments globally and in the Asia Pacific region.
APREA NAMES NEW CHIEF
The Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (Aprea) has appointed Sigrid Zialcita as its new chief executive from January 2. She succeeds Peter Verwer, who has held the post since 2014.
Before joining Aprea, Zialcita was managing director of Asia Pacific research at property services firm Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) for some 15 years.
She has also worked as a senior economist at the National Association of Realtors in Washington, DC and as a consultant at PwC in New York.
LGS MAKES SENIOR APPOINTMENT
Australia's Local Government Super has appointed Daniel Musson as chief of people and transformation.
Musson started in the newly created role on November 19 and will be responsible for transformation and change management strategies as the superannuation fund attempts to build a more dynamic organisational culture.
LGS is in the process of a comprehensive organisational redesign to position itself for strong growth based on long-term sustainable investment returns, high-quality service, competitive costs and strong governance.
Musson was previously chief executive of Charlton Brown, a community services and training provider in Australia.
CITI NAMES SECURITIES SERVICES HEAD FOR HK AND CHINA
Citi has appointed Harry Peng as head of prime, futures and securities services (PFSS) for Hong Kong and China.
The appointment was effective on December 13. Peng was previously the head of PFSS for China at Citi and has relocated from Shanghai to Hong Kong to take up the expanded role.
Peng continues to look after PFSS for China while assuming the duties previously taken up by Cindy Chen. She was Citi's former securities services head for Hong Kong, but left the US bank in October, a company spokesman said.
Peng reports to David Russell, head of PFSS for Asia Pacific and head of markets and securities services for Hong Kong, the spokesman said.
RAFFLES FAMILY OFFICE APPOINTS SENIOR PM
Raffles Family Office has appointed Lawrence Chan as Hong Kong-based senior portfolio manager for credit and fixed income investments.
He joined the office on December 10 and reports to Kwan Chi-man, CEO and founder of the office. This role is newly created to cater to an increasing number of clients, a company spokesman said.
Including Chan, there are now two fixed income portfolio managers at Raffles, and one more will come on board next month, he said.
Chan was previously CIO of fixed income at Taiping Asset Management, which did not reply to AsianInvestor’s query about his departure.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor last week:
Insto roundup: Japan’s JIC CEO quits; KIC on ESG push
This story has been updated to clarify the name of Mark Fennell, the acting CIO for NZ Super.