Weekly roundup of people news, Apr 13
Mirae Asset GI names new head of Asia sales
Mirae Asset Global Investments, the international arm of South Korea's Mirae Asset, has hired Jacqueline Wong from Robeco as head of Asia sales, based in Hong Kong.
She will focus on wholesale intermediaries such as retail banks, private banks, insurance companies and independent financial advisers in Hong Kong and Singapore. She will also aim to enhance the firm’s presence in Southeast Asia, said Mirae Asset GI in a statement.
Marco Tutavac, Mirae Asset GI's head of consultant relations, is the main point of institutional coverage.
Eldora Wong previously oversaw institutional distribution in Asia as a sales director, with some focus on wholesale and retail. She left at the end of March, and AsianInvestor could not ascertain her next destination.
Eldora Wong had covered both institutional and wholesale/retail since Sabrina Kwek, the previous wholesale and retail sales director, left in April 2016 and joined Allianz Global Investors.
Jacqueline Wong joined on March 27 from Dutch fund house Robeco in Hong Kong, where she was head of wholesale distribution for Asia Pacific until August last year. Robeco did not respond to a query about whether she has been replaced.
She now reports to Rhee Jung-Ho, president and chief executive of Mirae Asset Global Investments.
Jacqueline Wong has also worked for BNP Paribas Asset Management, China Asset Management, First State Investments and Fidelity International.
MAS revokes licence of One Asia Investment Partners
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) revoked the capital markets services licence of venture capital firm One Asia Investment Partners on Tuesday this week (April 11). OAIP thus ceases to be a licensed fund manager.
The board of directors and the management team of OAIP had not demonstrated that they were able to run the firm effectively, said MAS in a statement. OAIP’s financial condition had deteriorated and it was issued a winding up order on March 17 by the High Court of Singapore.
UBP hires heads of DPM and Greater China
Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) has hired two executives to newly created roles from rival Swiss bank BSI, which has been forced to close its SIngapore branch.
Paras Gupta joined UBP on March 3 as Singapore head of discretionary portfolio management for ultra-high-net-worth clients. He was previously head of portfolio management at BSI in Hong Kong, and will move to Singapore later this year, a spokesperson said.
Gupta reports to Edouard Hoepffner, UBP’s Asia head of investment services.
In addition, Jonathan Lin joined UBP on March 10 in Hong Kong as market head for Greater China. He reports to Eric Morin, Hong Kong-based head of North Asia, who previously oversaw the greater China markets. Lin was North Asia head of private banking at BSI until February.
UBP saw the need to put in place dedicated heads to grow those parts of the business, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
BSI was fined and ordered to shut down its Singapore branch by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in May last year for “serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements”. It was at the time being taken over by Swiss bank EFG, and the acquisition was completed in November.
EFG did not respond to queries about Gupta and Lin’s departures by press time.
CTBC PB product head exits
Michael Coglin left Taiwanese group CTBC in March, where he was Singapore-based head of research, product and investment for the international private banking division, according to his LinkedIn page.
CTBC could not immediately provide comment by press time.
Coglin had joined CTBC in 2011 and before that worked at Bank Sarasin, Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management and JP Morgan Chase.
Amac sets up two new committees
The Asset Management Association of China (Amac) said on April 10 it had set up two committees, one to supervise self-regulation by asset managers and another to support and to strenghen the legal framework in the industry.
The self-regulation committee is led by Guo Tehua, general manager of ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management and vice chairman of Amac.
The legal committee is led by Zhao Xuejun, president of Harvest Fund Management and vice chairman of Amac.
Both Guo and Zhao have been appointed for four-year tenures.
Conglomerate HNA International names new CIO
Chinese conglomerate HNA Group (International) has named Patrick Kwan as chief investment officer, effective April 10. He will be mainly responsible for managing the company’s investment projects and the related financing activities.
Kwan was previously with UK bank Barclays in Hong Kong from 2001 to 2016. His last position was co-head of investment banking for Asia Pacific and country manager of Hong Kong. He began his career with Goldman Sachs and has also worked at Peregrine Fixed Income, TD Securities and Deutsche Bank.
Kwan will help guide HNA International as a strategic platform for the internationalisation of HNA Group’s business, said the firm in a statement.
Since its founding in 1993, HNA Group has evolved from a regional airline based in Hainan into a global conglomerate covering tourism, industrials, capital, logistics and ecological technologies.
China Life Group president switches to PICC
People's Insurance Company (Group) of China (PICC) appointed Miao Jianmin as president on April 1, reported Chinese publication Caixin.
Miao, previously vice chairman and president of China Life Insurance (Group), replaces Wang Yincheng, said the report. Wang is under investigation, as announced by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on February 23.
PICC didn’t respond to a request for confirmation or comment on Miao’s appointment by press time.
China Life (Group)'s life insurance arm said in a statement on April 7 that Miao had resigned as a non-executive director and a member of the nomination and remuneration committee.
Allianz replaces Asia head of corporate development
Allianz has appointed Julia Zheng Kuik as head of corporate development for Asia Pacific, effective April 10.
Based in the insurer's Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, she will lead Allianz's business development in the region, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and new partnerships, the company said in a statement.
Reporting to Asia-Pacific CEO George Sartorel, Zheng replaces Ashwin Amladi, who will be moving within the group to North America, a spokesperson said.
Zheng most recently served as Asia head of business development at for Insurance Australia Group (IAG), which said that role will be filled internally.
Prior to that, she was an executive director at Goldman Sachs in New York and Hong Kong, where she focused on advising clients in the insurance, asset management and financial technology sectors.
Jupiter AM names global heads of sales and key clients
UK-based Jupiter Asset Management has appointed Matteo Dante Perruccio as head of global key clients and strategic partners and David Conway as global sales director, reporting to Perruccio.
Both are newly created roles, said the firm, which has €47.5 billion under management.
Perruccio's role recognises the importance of developing and deepening Jupiter’s global client relationships, said the firm in a statement.
Conway's responsibilities were previously, and remain, under the remit of Nick Ring, Jupiter’s global head of distribution.
Conway had opened Jupiter’s first Asian office in Singapore, in 2009, and spent seven years there as Asia-Pacific sales director before returning to London in May last year. Madeline Han has taken on his duties in Singapore.
As an executive adviser, Matteo was responsible for establishing Jupiter’s business in Milan, Italy. Previously he served for eight years as non-executive director of the firm.
First State announces launch of high-yield team
First State Investments, the international arm of Australia's Colonial First State Global Asset Management, has announced the launch of a new global high-yield bond team in New York. It added the latest member this month and plans to add two more analysts this quarter.
The five strong team, led by Matt Philo, will manage sub-investment grade corporate bond portfolios. It will collaborate closely with First State’s existing fixed income teams across the US, Asia, Europe the Middle East and Africa.
Before the team was established, First State's high-yield exposure was run by Monegy, a unit of Canada's BMO Global Asset Management.
Philo joined First State in May 2016 and was previously was head of high yield at MacKay Shields. He now reports to Paul Griffiths, chief investment officer of fixed income and multi-asset solutions.
The team also includes Michael Elkins, formerly of Avenue Capital, and Jason Epstein, previously managing director at Oak Hill Advisors, both of whom joined First State in September.
In addition, Linda Grillo, joined as head high yield trader in May last year from Golden Tree Asset Management, where she was co-head of high-yield trading.
David Licht joined as senior analyst in November from Avenue Capital.
Ryan Spitz joined as an analyst this month from Stone Harbor Investment Partners, where he was a global credit analyst.
Hywin Wealth appoints new chairman
UK-based Azure Wealth has been renamed Hywin Wealth and has appointed Lin Shangjia Monica as its new chairman on January 11, after being acquired by Hywin Capital (UK).
Hywin Capital (UK) is the British unit of Chinese financial group Hywin Financial Holding.
Lin, managing director of Hywin Capital (UK), replaces Nima Sarikhani as Hywin Wealth's chairman. Sarikhani represented Azure’s original family office investor, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:
Credit Suisse AM names Asia distribution head
Brandywine’s new Asia chief talks strategy, hiring plans
Allianz names new CIO for Asian insurance arm