Weekly roundup of people moves, June 21
Fidelity's Bolton to retire, hand reins to Singapore PM
Anthony Bolton, one of the UK’s most well-known fund managers, will retire in 2014 after three years of sifting for opportunities in China.
Bolton made a name for himself while managing the Fidelity Special Situations fund in London, with an annualised compound rate of return of 19.5% over 28 years.
After retiring in 2009, he came back to in 2010 to much fanfare, moving from his home in London to Hong Kong to take over managing the firm’s newly launched Fidelity China Situations investment trust. It began trading with £460 million ($713 million).
However, Bolton found making money from China more difficult than expected, at one point comparing seeking value in Chinese stocks to “looking for gold in a minefield”, according to the Financial Times. Over a three-year period, the China Special Situations fund registered a loss of 5.43%, and is down 0.83% year-to-date through Thursday.
Dale Nicholls, who manages a pan-Asia fund at Fidelity’s Singapore office, will relocate to Hong Kong to take over the reins from Bolton and head up the China Special Situations fund, a Fidelity spokeswoman says.
“During the transition period, the aim is for [Dale] to spend as much time as possible with Anthony” before he moves back to London in April 2014, she says.
Several existing managers in Singapore will take over Nicholls’ current portfolios, which are mostly focused on the Pacific region, she says, although adds that “the overall plan is for Dale to manage two disciplines by April 2014: China and regional Pacific”. She declines to offer further details.
Nicholls joined Fidelity in 1996 as a research analyst, and moved over to the investment side in 2003. He previously worked at Banker’s Trust Asia Securities in Tokyo in from 1994-1996.
Bolton has been with Fidelity since the launch of its first UK funds 30 years ago, managing the Fidelity Special Situations fund from 1979-2007. He also oversaw a number of other funds, including some European-focused strategies. He was managing director from 1990 through 2008, having previously been an investment director from 1979 through 1989.
Prior to Fidelity, he was a fund manager at Schlesinger Investment Management Services from 1976-1979, and before that, an investment analyst at Keyser Ullmann from 1971-1976. He received an MA (honours) in engineering and business studies from Cambridge University.
New Singapore chief for HSBC Global AM
HSBC Global Asset Management has appointed Kalen Lim as Singapore chief executive, starting on July 1.
She replaces Sten Ankarcrona, who will move to the firm’s Stockholm office as a managing director in its asset management business, after holding the role since March last year.
Lim has been with HSBC since 2005, most recently as head of business finance for HSBC Singapore, where she oversees the corporate bank, small and medium-sized enterprises, retail, global markets, and custody and clearing divisions. Previously she focused on the business banking strategy and commercial banking products.
Lim will report to Hong Kong-based Joanna Munro, Asia-Pacific CEO at HSBC Global AM, and Paul Arrowsmith, head of retail banking and wealth management in Singapore.
HSBC Global AM oversees $428 billion in AUM.
Man Group names new Aussie CEO
Alternatives firm Man Group has hired Jamie Douglas as chief executive officer of its Australian business.
Douglas will oversee Man Investments Australia starting on July 1, replacing Gary Gerstle, who is retiring. Douglas aims to grow Man’s retail and institutional business with local and global investors seeking exposure to its range of funds, including quantitative strategies, GLG’s offerings, long-only mandates and FRM, Man’s fund of funds.
Douglas joins from JP Morgan in London, where he spent the past five years working in its investment office as managing director, overseeing foreign exchanges and emerging markets. He will relocate from London to Sydney and report to Man CEO Emmanuel 'Manny' Roman.
“We see Australia as an integral part of the Asian growth story," says Roman. "[Douglas] will continue to build our retail and institutional business in this highly attractive market, including establishing an on-the-ground portfolio management business.”
SFC appoints executive director
Hong Kong’s securities regulator has named former Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific regulatory head James Shipton executive director of its newly integrated intermediaries supervision and licensing division for a three-year term, starting June 19.
This division was created to enable the Securities and Futures Commission to deal with increasingly complex regulatory issues, and also enhance the regulatory effectiveness of licensing and supervising.
Before joining the SFC in Hong Kong, Shipton was a full-time fellow at Harvard Law Schools’ programme for international financial systems for three months. Previously he was Goldman Sachs’ Asia-Pacific head of government and regulatory affairs, and a managing director at Goldman’s executive office. He has worked in Australia, Bangkok, Singapore, London and Hong Kong.
Byrne departs from Aussie Super council
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) chief executive, Ann Byrne, will leave the organisation this October.
It is actively seeking her replacement and is looking internationally. A spokeswoman says that the fund has only just begun the search, but declines to offer specifics.
Byrne spent five years at the A$350 billion ($323 million) fund and was a strong advocate for promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, pushing “the importance of improved corporate governance [across] Australia’s corporate landscape”, says ACSI president Gerard Noonan.
Over the past year, Byrne has also been closely involved in re-organising ACSI’s own governance and representative structure.
She previously worked as chief executive of industry super funds UniSuper and Superannuation Trust of Australia (now AustralianSuper).
For the past three years, she has held the position of elected member of the international board of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), and will continue to hold the role until October. She will also continue to serve on the board of Oxfam Australia, the spokeswoman says, although adds that Byrne has said she no longer wants to work full-time.
Service provider hires Goldman MD
Service provider Tora hired former Goldman Sachs executive Brian Tafaro as managing director and co-head of its liquidity services division. He will relocate to the US from Tokyo in July. His team will be based in Los Angeles, but a spokeswoman would not disclose which US city Tafaro will be moving to.
In the newly created role, Tafaro will co-head the firm’s client coverage in Japan and other Asian markets, servicing existing clients while expanding the company’s presence in Japan and Asia. He will work directly will co-head Khahlil Kirtman.
Before joining Tora, Tafaro was a managing director and co-head of the Japan execution services team at Goldman Sachs, responsible for managing trading activity. He spent over 13 years at Goldman. Previously, he was on the international sales trading team at Nomura Securities’ Tokyo office.
Kroll shifts senior execs to Asia
Risk consulting firm Kroll Advisory Solutions has relocated a number of its senior executives to Asia.
Omer Erginsoy, senior managing director, moved to Singapore from London to focus on developing its advisory business across Asia Pacific. He joined as head of operations in 2002 and reports to Tadashi Kageyama, senior managing director and head of Kroll’s Asia operations including Japan.
Stefano Demichelis, associate managing director for Kroll’s investigations practice in London, has also relocated to Singapore to focus on strengthening the practice and developing data to facilitate fraud investigations.
Demichelis reports to Penelope Lepeudry, managing director of the investigations and disputes practice in Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile Jason Wright, who was previously working in Singapore, has moved to Hong Kong as an associate managing director within the firm’s Greater China investigations practice. Wright will report to Violet Ho, senior managing director.
Wright joined Kroll in 2005 as a director in the firm’s Milan office before relocating to London. He moved to Singapore in 2009 to lead Kroll’s Southeast Asia business intelligence practice, working on a number of transactions mostly for private equity funds. He also oversaw investigations into internal frauds, and has provided litigation support for clients involved in disputes globally.
In Hong Kong, Wright will focus on China, a region where the firm sees “strong demand for due diligence and investigation work across the region from financial institutions, law firms and corporations”, says Ho.
Wright adds: “Investment into Greater China continues unabated and with it, we see rising demand for increasingly complex investigations.”
Kroll says it is hiring aggressively in Asia.
Nikko hires chief legal officer
Nikko Asset Management has hired Ross Long as chief legal officer. Long, based in Tokyo, will be responsible for all global legal functions at the firm. He starts on June 24.
Previously he worked at brokerage and investment firm CLSA for 15 years as group counsel, where he oversaw its business expansion, particularly in Asia Pacific. He has worked and lived in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
Long replaces David Monroe, who left Nikko AM earlier in June. A spokeswoman declines to comment on Monroe’s future plans.
“Ross has a detailed understanding of the complex legal frameworks of Japan and many Asian countries, as well as a real comprehension of the cultural and linguistic practices that successful firms need to observe,” Charles Beazley, Nikko AM chairman, president and CEO, says.
“As we accelerate our growth plans, the addition of Ross as CLO greatly strengthens our executive management team and governance.”
UBS makes internal appointments to HK team
UBS Wealth Management has promoted a number of employees within its client advisory business in Hong Kong.
Freeman Ma, Jamee Wong and LienSeng Tan will all head up different client advisory teams, which offer investment advice to UBS’s range of clients.
Executive directors Ma and Wong both joined UBS as client advisers, Ma in 2002 from HSBC and Wong in 2006 from Goldman Sachs. Tan, a managing director, who was with the firm’s capital markets division focusing on equity markets previously, joined in 1997 from London.
Ma reports to Becky Li, managing director, while Wong and Tan report to Philip Mak, managing director.
Ma and Wong’s positions are new, while Tan replaces Christian Schiller, who will move back to Zurich after seven years in Hong Kong.
In addition, UBS also hired Crystal Wong as a client advisor. She previously worked in a similar capacity at Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities Private Bank. Wong will report to Pang.
Other moves reported by AsianInvestor this week:
Jarvis to head BoA-Merrill prime brokerage consulting
SSgA reshuffles senior staff amid expansion drive