ABERDEEN STANDARD LURES JAPAN PROPERTY HEAD FROM MANULIFE

Hidetoshi Ono

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has hired Hidetoshi Ono from Canada's Manulife as its first Japan head of direct real estate, effective July 16.

The role was created as part of ASI’s strategy to expand its investment capability in Japan into direct real estate and to expand its Asia property capabilities and allocation overall, a spokeswoman said.

Orion Partners, the Hong Kong-based property investment firm acquired by ASI in February, has a direct real estate team in Tokyo, which will be integrated into ASI Japan and led by Ono.

Previously, ASI’s direct real estate investment in Japan was managed by the regional and global real estate team based in Singapore and the UK.

Based in Tokyo, Ono reports to John Lee, Asia Pacific head of direct real estate, who is based in Singapore.

At Manulife, Ono was managing director for Japan real estate in June and left the firm in June, according to a spokeswoman. The Canadian insurer is seeking a replacement, she added. He has also worked for Axa Real Estat, ING Real Estate, General Electric and Mitsui Fudosan.

MUNICH RE NAMES GREATER CHINA CEO

Munich Re has promoted Steven Chang to chief executive of Greater China from deputy CEO for the same region, effective August 1.

Steven Chang

He succeeds Christoph Hoch, who has relocated to Munich with the reinsurance group to take up the role of regional head of facultative and corporate for Iberia and Latin America, effective also August 1.

Based in Beijing, Chang reports to report to Tobias Farny, Munich-based CEO for Asia Pacific, which includes Greater China, Australia and New Zealand. He leads the company’s non-life business and operations in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Munich Re did not immmediately respond to a query about whether Chang would be replaced in his former role. 

INVESTEC SHUTS WEALTH BUSINESS IN HONG KONG

Investec Wealth & Investment closed its small wealth and investment business in Hong Kong at the end of July, a spokesman has confirmed.

The Hong Kong office had been led by Catherine Kirchmann since it was set up four years ago. She remained in that role until its closure at the end of July, and is now divisional director for international business, based in London.
 
Most, but not all, clients have chosen to have their portfolios managed by the discretionary investment team in London, a spokesman told AsianInvestor. 

Investec Wealth & Investment part of UK-South African banking and asset management firm Investec, specialises in investing for individual clients, charities, trusts and clients of professional advisers.

This story has been amended to show that Catherine Kirchmann, not Jonathan Sleath, had headed the Hong Kong office.

HSBC UNCLEAR ON JOB CUT PLANS IN ASIA 

HSBC has just announced plans to reduce its headcount globally to save costs, but the bank declined to confirm to AsianInvestor whether there would be cuts to its asset management or private banking businesses in Asia, or to comment on the extent or location of any such moves.

A spokeswoman said: "We will continue to invest in areas of strategic importance and growth. Asia is a strategic priority and overall HSBC is investing in the region, including in asset management and private banking, where we continue to hire talent to support our growth plans."

HSBC’s finance director Ewen Stevenson told media in the past week that up to 2% of the bank’s 237,685 employees could lose their jobs. The cuts, aimed at shaving up to 4% off HSBC’s wage costs, will apparently target senior roles.

JLL REPLACES SINGAPORE HEAD OF CAPITAL MARKETS 

Property services firm JLL has promoted Lim Ting to an expanded role as head of its Singapore capital markets business, effective this month. She replaces Greg Hyland, who has left to pursue other opportunities, a company spokeswoman said.

Lim heads a team of 21 real estate experts, serving investors including pension funds, property developers, government-linked companies, sovereign wealth funds and investment managers.

She reports to Stuart Crow, chief executive of Asia-Pacific capital markets, and Chris Fossick, Southeast Asia CEO. Both are based in Singapore.

Lim was previously an executive director in JLL's Asia-Pacific capital markets division and has retained those regional responsibilities after taking up the new role.

HSBC PB LURES SENIOR HK EXEC FROM RIVAL 

Andrew Lau has rejoined HSBC Private Banking as a managing director in Hong Kong, heading a desk of relationship managers. 

Andrew Lau

He joins from Credit Suisse, where he was an executive director, according to his LinkedIn profile. Lau was formerly head of investment counselling for Hong Kong at HSBC Private Banking.

Lau reports to Rachel Wei, co-market head of Hong Kong at HSBC Private Banking.

An HSBC spokeswoman declined to comment on additional details. 

RBC WM HIRES SENIOR DUO FOR FAMILY CLIENT COVERAGE

RBC Wealth Management, a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, has appointed Dom Lane and Vicky Lin as a private banking team head and deputy head of private banking for Greater China, respectively, effective June.

Don Lane_RBC
Dom Lane

Based in Singapore, Lane covers family clients in Southeast Asia and reports to Mike Reed, head of wealth management for Southeast Asia and Singapore chief executive.

Lane was previously executive director of the expatriate desk at UBS in Singapore. UBS did not respond to AsianInvestor queries.

Lin has joined in Hong Kong, where she will service families in Greater China. She reports to Ignatius Chong, head of private banking for Greater China. 

Lin has also held senior roles at EFG Private Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Morgan Stanley. EFG Private bank declined to comment on Lin’s departure. RBC did not respond to a query as to what was her most recent role.

The roles were created for Lin and Lane to serve the needs of existing clients and to help grow that part of the client base, said the bank. Those responsibilities were previously looked after by the Southeast Asia private banking team, it added.

DEUTSCHE BANK WM HIRES IN DUBAI DESPITE GROUP CULL 

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management has hired five senior relationship managers from Swiss rival Julius Baer to cover offshore Indian clients out of its Dubai operation, despite its parent group's plans to cut 18,000 jobs worldwide.

A spokeswoman said all the hires were net additions, with none of them replacing anyone.

The wealth management unit of the German lender has hired Abhishek Sharma, Ravi Sidhu and Kabir Sharma as director-level relationship managers reporting to Singapore-based Armit Singh, head of wealth management for global South Asia.

DB Wealth Management said it was also hiring a managing director and a director-level executive from Julius Baer. All five will focus on offshore Indian clients.

Fabrizio Campelli, global head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management told Reuters on June 30 that the bank would hire 300 additional relationship and investment managers globally by 2021, especially in emerging markets. 

BARINGS SETS UP INSTITUTIONAL SOLUTIONS TEAM

Barings, an asset management subsidiary of US-based MassMutual, has set up an institutional solutions team, with its first two hires to be based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The firm will look into hiring in Asia and Europe as the business develops, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.

Stewart Russell started on August 5 and is responsible for delivering customised investment portfolios, solutions and services to institutional investors globally. He will report to Barings’ head of global markets, Michael Freno.

Ann Bryant has also joined as head of insurance solutions within the team, reporting to Russell. She came on board in June.

Russell previously worked at Moore Capital Management as a portfolio manager, while Bryant joins from Reinsurance Group America, where she was a senior portfolio manager. 

Barings’ business development and investment teams have in the past collaborated to create customised strategies for clients, but the new team will act as a dedicated function in this respect.

Other people news stories reported by AsianInvestor in the last week:

BlackRock seeks new Taiwan head amid restructuring

HSBC Global AM loses lead Asia bond manager