Eastspring appoints new Singapore CEO 
Eastspring Investments, the Asian asset management arm of UK insurer Prudential, has promoted chief operating officer Phil Stockwell to the additional role of chief executive of Singapore, effective September 1.

He takes over the Singapore CEO role from Jackie Chew, who will become group-wide audit director for fund management at Prudential on December 1. Chew, who joined Eastspring as Singapore CEO in 2013, will remain in Singapore and report to Keith Davies, director of internal audit for the group.

An Eastspring spokesperson said Chew's new role was newly created. She will work with the audit teams covering Prudential's investment businesses – including Eastspring, M&G and others – to identify key risks, recommend control and efficiency enhancements and help roll out best practice, where appropriate. 

Stockwell joined Eastspring in September 2014 as general manager for investments and became COO in June 2015. 

Before joining Eastspring, Stockwell was COO at BT Investment Management  in Australia from July 2005 to July 2013, and also held consulting roles with McKinsey & Company and KPMG Consulting.

HSBC names new Singapore wealth chief 
HSBC has named Anurag Mathur as Singapore head of retail banking and wealth management (RBWM), effective mid-September.

He replaces Matthew Colebrook, who will lead HSBC’s RBWM business for the Middle East. HSBC did not respond by press time as to where he would be based and whom he would replace. 

Mathur will report to Singapore CEO Guy Harvey-Samuel and to Kevin Martin, Hong Kong-based Asia-Pacific head of RBWM.

Mathur was previously Asia head of international markets for RBWM, overseeing growth strategies in Bangladesh, Brunei, Macau, Mauritius, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. HSBC will announce his replacement as head of international markets soon.

Mathur joined HSBC in Hong Kong in 2009 and has held other senior roles for RBWM, across product management, strategic planning and business performance management.

PGIM Real Estate poaches research head from M&G
PGIM Real Estate, the global investment management arm of US financial services firm Prudential Financial, has hired Cuong Nguyen as head of Asia-Pacific investment research. 

He had previously served as Asia-Pacific research and strategy at M&G Real Estate from 2010 and his last day there was June 10. Research analyst Kai Yip will take on Nguyen's role, having been working closely with him.

Nguyen started at PGIM in Singapore on August 23 and reports to Peter Hayes, PGIM Real Estate's London-based global head of investment research. 

Nguyen replaces Henry Chin, who left PGIM Real Estate in November 2013 to pursue other opportunities. Hayes had assumed oversight of research in Asia Pacific on an interim basis. 

Nguyen has also worked for Prudential Property Investment Managers and investment consultancy Watson Wyatt (now Willis Towers Watson).

Morgan Stanley's Asia wealth COO steps down
Sim Hwee Hoon will step down later this year from her role as Singapore-based chief operating officer for Asia at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management. 

Replacing Sim will be David Wraight, a managing director in Morgan Stanley’s institutional securities business in Hong Kong. It's understood he will remain in Hong Kong for the COO post.

Sim joined Morgan Stanley in 2010 and previously spent 12 years at JP Morgan Private Bank. 

Bank of Singapore adds Philippines coverage
Bank of Singapore, the private banking arm of Singapore’s OCBC, has added two senior private bankers to cover the Philippines.

Arthur Ooi joined as managing director and team head on August 1, reporting to Robin Heng, global market head for Indonesia and the Philippines. Brandon Ho joined as senior relationship manager on July 12, reporting to Ooi.

Both Ho and Ooi are based in Singapore and joined from rival Credit Suisse, which did not respond to inquiries about the two departures.

Ooi was most recently team head with the Philippines business of Credit Suisse Private Bank. He has 19 years of private banking experience, including stints at UBS and Citi. 

Ho's last appointment was as team lead for emerging Asia investment consulting at Credit Suisse. He has a background in both investment banking and wealth management, and has advised clients across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 

Robeco hires new Australia sales manager 
Dutch fund house Robeco has appointed Sam Besley as a regional sales manager based in Melbourne to help the company grow its retail business. 

This role is newly created, but has long been anticipated since Robeco established the Australian office in 2012, said Stephen Dennis, Sydney-based head of Australia, to whom Besley reports.

Besley's appointment took effect on August 23 and he will work alongside Sydney-based sales manager Matthew Young.

Prior to Robeco, Besley had worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) as a key account manager since July 2013, based in Melbourne. Previously he had been with Fidelity Worldwide Investment as business development manager in Sydney since March 2011. 

Besley's responsibilities have been spread among other members of the team, said a GSAM spokesperson.

BNP Paribas Securities Services loses Toy to NAB
National Australia Bank (NAB) has hired Michelle Toy as head of marketing and corporate affairs for its international branches, covering Asia, London and New York.

She was previously Asia-Pacific head of marketing and communications at BNP Paribas Securities Services, which declined to comment on the departure.

Toy joined NAB in Hong Kong on August 15 to replace Amy Johnson, who has returned to the bank's Melbourne headquarters from Singapore to take maternity leave, which will continue until April 2017. 

She will report to NAB's general manager for business marketing and customer strategy in the group marketing division, whose identity is yet to be revealed. 

Toy has also worked for JP Morgan, Nomura and State Street. 

Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week: 

TPG poaches from Morgan Stanley for Korea return

OMGI hires to start commodities push

Fund managers "unlikely" to scrap bonuses in Asia