PRIVATE BANK SALES MD TO LEAVE VALUE PARTNERS FOR NEW ROLE
Vicky Yick will be leaving Hong Kong-based Value Partners to join a global fund house as Asia head of intermediaries distribution, according to a well-placed source.
At Value Partners she is a managing director covering private banking clients, and it is understood that her last working day there will be September 27.
Yick could not be reached for comment.
Her move adds to the list of senior departures from the Hong Kong firm this year – including Philip Li and head of sales Eric Poon – and follows a leadership shakeup last month.
Value Partners declined to comment on whether Yick had been or would be replaced.
She had been with Value Partners since February 2010. Before that she had worked at BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs in sales roles covering private wealth clients, according to her LinkedIn page.
This story has been updated to indicate that Yick is moving to a new role at a different firm.
M&G OPENS ITS FIRST AUSTRALIA OFFICES
M&G Investments has announced the opening of its first two offices in Australia, in Sydney and Melbourne, to be run by two internal transfers.
Christopher Andrews joins in Melbourne as head of business development for Australia and James MacKinnon comes in as head of Australia real estate in Sydney.
Andrews and MacKinnon officially started their new roles in the second quarter of 2019 but have focused on building M&G’s Australia strategy since late 2018. M&G said it has plans to further build out its Australia team in the two offices in due course.
Andrews was most recently Singapore-based global head of client relationships and marketing at M&G Real Estate. He reports to Ominder Dhillion, London-based global head of institutional distribution, who is now responsible for all institutional sales and client service for M&G Investments.
MacKinnon was most recently Asia-Pacific head of asset management at M&G Real Estate in Singapore, having joined the firm in 2012. He reports to Ng Chiang Ling, chief executive and chief investment officer for Asia at M&G Real Estate.
Two existing members of the asset management team, Lyndon Lim in Singapore and Itsusaburo Hirayama in Tokyo, will take over from MacKinnon as Asia-Pacific co-heads of asset management.
Prior to joining M&G, MacKinnon had held senior roles in Asia at AIG Global Real Estate and Macquarie Goodman.
US PRIVATE INVESTMENT FIRM OPENS SINGAPORE BRANCH
Seattle-based Vulcan Capital, the investment arm of the late Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen, has opened an office in Singapore, its first outside the US.
The office is run by managing directors Tommy Teo and Yu Minjie. Teo, now Vulcan’s head of Southeast Asia, was previously an executive director at Singapore-based private equity manager Northstar Group. Yu was formerly a partner at Singapore-based private investment firm Ethos Partners.
Both Northstar and Ethos declined to comment on the departures.
When it announced the opening on August 21, Vulcan said that in its initial phase it would deploy $100 million into venture opportunities across Southeast Asia. It also plans to add another one to three executives in Singapore in the next 18 to 24 months, said a spokesman.
Formed in 2003, Vulcan Capital focuses on developing globally focused philanthropic initiatives and has multiple billion dollars under management.
ALLIANZGI ADDS TWO PRIVATE CREDIT MANAGERS
Allianz Global Investors has appointed Siddharth Rao and Paul Schrecongost as senior portfolio managers in the Asian private credit team in Singapore, effective in the third quarter of this year.
Their roles are newly created by the asset manager to help deploy raised capital in its core markets.
Rao and Schrecongost report to lead portfolio manager Sumit Bhandari.
Rao was previously a Mumbai-based portfolio manager with India's Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors, while Schrecongost will join from Nomura in Singapore. Both firms declined to comment on the departures.
INVESTEC ADDS CHINA ANALYST
Investec Asset Management added Amy Leung as an analyst in Hong Kong in mid-July to support the team’s China investment capability.
Leung reports to Greg Kuhnert, London-based portfolio manager of the Investec All China and Asian Equity strategies.
She left the UK firm on July 14 and Newton is evaluating whether to fill her position, the spokeswoman added.Leung was previously with Newton Investment Management as an analyst on the emerging and Asian equity team, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
BNY MELLON IM HIRES GREATER BAY AREA SALESMAN
BNY Mellon Investment Management has appointed Eric Yu to a newly created role as vice president for institutional distribution focused on the Greater Bay Area of China, said a spokeswoman for the US firm.
Hong Kong-based Yu started on July 22 and reports to Jessie Zhang, head of distribution for Greater China.
Yu most recently worked for Shenzhen-based Bosera Asset Management as executive director for sales and client service. Bosera did not respond to AsianInvestor’s inquiries about when Yu left the firm or who has taken over his responsibilities.
Prior to Bosera, Yu was a portfolio manager at China Southern Fund Management and a fund manager for fixed income and absolute return at China Investment Corporation.
PICTET WM RAIDS CREDIT SUISSE, OVERHAULS ASIA LEADERSHIP
Pictet Wealth Management has raided rival Credit Suisse to strengthen its Greater China client coverage, while shaking up its Asia leadership team.
The move will see new chief executives for Asia and Hong Kong and follows the arrival of Boris Collardi from Julius Baer last year as a managing partner with oversight of the region.
Pictet has poached Alex Ng from Credit Suisse along with his team of 18 wealth managers focusing on Greater China, and they will join in November. Credit Suisse declined to comment on the departures.
Ng, formerly Credit Suisse’s market head for China, will take over as Hong Kong chief executive at Pictet, replacing Sharon Chou as chief executive of Pictet's Hong Kong branch and chief executive for North Asia.
Remaining in Hong Kong, Ng will report to Tee Fong-Seng, who will join in October from EFG Bank as Pictet WM's new Asia CEO in Singapore. At EFG he was chairman of the Asia advisory board and had previously held senior posts at Credit Suisse Private Banking.
Tee succeeds Claude Haberer, who has been named Asia chairman of Pictet WM, a newly created role reporting to Collardi.
Sharon Chou, formerly North Asia CEO, will become Pictet WM's deputy CEO for Asia and report to Tee. Oversight of North Asia will subsequently pass to Ng.
Dominique Jooris remains CEO for South Asia and the Singapore operation and reports to Tee.
Pictet said the major recruitment initiative reflected its ambitions in Asia and prepared it for regional growth.
BANK OF SINGAPORE NAMES NORTH ASIA HEAD OF BESPOKE INVESTMENTS
Bank of Singapore has appointed Kelvin Teo as head of bespoke investments for Greater China and North Asia. The private bank decline to comment on who was in this role before.
Teo joins from Credit Suisse, where he was director for equity capital markets in Hong Kong. Credit Suisse declined to comment on his departure.
Based in Hong Kong, Teo reports to Derrick Tan, chief executive of the private bank’s Hong Kong branch and global market head for Greater China and North Asia, and to Carolyn Tham, Singapore-based global head of ultra-high-net-worth bespoke investments.
HSBC SECURITIES SERVICES HIRES EXEC FOR CHINA BIZ DEVELOPMENT
HSBC Securities Services has appointed Anastasia Aurol as vice president of China business development for the Americas-based asset owners and managers (AO&M) segment.
She joins HSBC from Standard Chartered, where she was New York-based China access specialist in Standard Chartered’s transaction banking division. Standard Chartered declined to comment on her departure.
Aurol has replaced Nick Xu, who has moved to HSBC's institutional client group in Singapore.
Based in New York, Aurol took up the role in July. She reports to Elizabeth Arnall, head of AO&M business development and client management for the Americas, and to Patrick Wong, head of AO&M business development and client management for China.
AQUILA CAPITAL HIRES DUO FOR ASIA CLIENT COVERAGE
Aquila Capital, a Hamburg-based alternative investment manager, said it had hired Chong Yoon-Jian as managing director and Chen I-An as director due to rising institutional demand in Asia for European renewables and real estate.
Based in London, the two former KPMG executives cover pan-Asian strategic and institutional clients, according to a press release. The consultancy did not immediately reply to an AsianInvestor query.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Chong was previously managing director for cross-border merger & acquisitions and strategy for energy and infrastructure at consultancy KPMG, based in London and Tokyo. Chen was formerly London-based manager for power and utilities merger and acquisition at KPMG, shows her LinkedIn profile.
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