Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 14
PRUDENTIAL CEO TO RETIRE
Prudential Group chief executive Mike Wells is to retire at the end of March after seven years in the role, with his replacement still to be recruited, and based in Asia.
In a statement on February 10, Prudential said Wells had led its transformation into an Asia and Africa focused business, having executed two strategic demergers and accelerated the development of an Asian shareholder base through a successful equity issuance on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The board said that "given the refocused nature of the business" it was conducting a search for a Group CEO to be based in Asia to succeed Wells, which includes both internal and external candidates.
RAFFLES FAMILY OFFICE NAMES NEW DEPUTY CEO
Raffles Family Office, a multi-family office and independent asset manager, has appointed William Chow as its first deputy group chief executive officer on February 9.
The deputy CEO position is a newly created role as the company expands its C-suite team to "sustain growth trajectory and explore new service offerings", it said in a press statement.
Chow is currently based at RFO's headquarters in Hong Kong. He has also been appointed to RFO's board of management and investment committee. He joins the family office from China Life Franklin Asset Management, where he was deputy CEO. Prior to that, he was a group managing director at Value Partners Group. He also previously held senior roles at UBS, BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors.
RFO was founded in Hong Kong in 2016. It opened its Singapore office in 2019 and also has a presence in Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei.
ABRDN ADDS NEW APAC HEAD OF INSTITUTIONAL CLIENTS
abrdn appointed Vivian Tang as head of institutional clients, Asia Pacific, effective March 22.
Based in Hong Kong, she will report to Rene Ruehlmann, CEO of Asia Pacific. With over 20 years of experience in the asset management industry, Tang will be leading a team responsible for developing and delivering forward-thinking investment outcomes for institutional clients across the Asia Pacific region.
The role is newly created and no one had been replaced, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Vivian comes to abrdn from First Sentier Investors where she was head of distribution, North Asia. Prior to joining FSI, Vivian held senior roles responsible for the distribution and coverage of clients in Greater China and as an Asian Equities investment specialist.
NIKKO AM ANNOUNCES NEW PRESIDENT
Stefanie Drews, senior corporate officer at Nikko Asset Management, will become the Tokyo-based asset manager’s next president, effective April 1, the company announced on February 2.
Drews will take on that role from Junichi Sayato, Nikko's chairman, president and CEO, who will step down on April 1. Sayato will remain on the firm's board of directors to ensure a smooth transition. No one in the organization will have the CEO title, according to a Nikko AM spokesperson.
Yutaka Nishida, a director and vice chairman of the firm, will take on Sayato's chairman role.
ROTHSCHILD HIRES EX-HSBC INDIA CHAIR AS SENIOR ADVISOR
Rothschild & Co has recruited former HSBC India chair Naina Lal Kidwai as a senior advisor and to serve on the board of its Indian business.
Kidwai will advise on Rothschild & Co India’s strategic ambitions with a focus on driving growth in the region. She will work closely with the global advisory teams in India and globally to enhance the firm’s presence and enhance its services in South Asia.
Kidwai was also formerly an executive director on the board of HSBC Asia Pacific. Before that, she served as vice chairman and head of investment banking at JM Morgan Stanley, as well as the president of the federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
MAGELLAN CHAIRMAN TO TAKE MEDICAL LEAVE
Magellan Financial Group, the holding company of Magellan Asset Management, announced on February 7, the chairman and CIO, Hamish Douglass, is taking a period of medical leave.
Director Hamish McLennan is becoming chair in the interim, according to the statement and Chris Mackay will oversee the portfolio management of Magellan’s global equity retail funds and global equity institutional mandates in Douglass’ absence. Mackay has been Magellan’s inaugural chairman and CIO from 2006 to 2012.
Magellan also advises that Nikki Thomas has rejoined Magellan as a co-portfolio manager of Magellan’s global equity strategies. Thomas originally joined Magellan in January 2007 and was involved in the global equity strategy since its inception in July 2007 until December 2017.
The news caused Magellan’s share price to tank by more than 11% to close at $16.43 per share on the same day as announcement, its lowest point in more than six years.
UBP ADDS MD FOR ADVISORY BUSINESS
Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) named Anthony Kao as managing director, head of advisory solutions, Asia, a newly created team. He reports regionally to Edouard Hoepffner, head of investment services Asia, and globally to Philippe Henry, global head of advisory.
Based in Hong Kong, Kao will oversee this new team across Asia, which comprises all its equity, fixed income and fund specialists in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Prior to this, he spent over 10 years at Citigroup where he was most recently the North Asia team lead for the Global Investment Lab, a team covering multi-asset class portfolios for ultra and mega wealth clients and family offices.
JUPITER HIRES NEW HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY
Jupiter asset management has appointed Sandra Carlisle to head of sustainability.
In this newly created role, Carlisle will lead the asset manager’s newly established corporate sustainability function and will be responsible for implementing Jupiter’s sustainability strategy across its organisation.
Carlisle was most recently at HSBC Asset Management where she had been the global ESG lead for its institutional business since 2017, covering client and business strategy across insurance, sovereign wealth and pension funds.
Prior to that, Carlisle was at Newton Investment Management where she was the head of responsible investment and managed its global ESG research team equities, fixed income and multi-asset strategies.
Her appointment and the creation of the Corporate Sustainability function builds on Jupiter’s ESG and Stewardship capabilities and its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, across its full range of investments and operations.
Carlisle's responsibilities at HSBC have been absorbed by the wider team until a replacement is found, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
NATIXIS RELOCATES GUIOT TO SINGAPORE TO HEAD APAC REAL ASSETS AND INFRA
Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) has appointed Bertrand Guiot as head of real assets & investment banking, South East Asia as well as head of infrastructure funds coverage, Asia Pacific.
Guiot will relocate to Singapore from Montreal where he was formerly Natixis’ senior country manager for its Canada branch over the last two and half years.
He will report to Sanjeev Kumar, senior country manager, Singapore, and head of South East & South Asia; Raghu Narain, head of investment banking, Asia Pacific; and Emmanuel Gillet-Lagarde, head of real assets & global trade, Asia Pacific.
This is not Guiot’s first role with Natixis in Asia as he was based in Hong Kong from 2017 to 2019, serving as the French investment bank’s APAC head of infrastructure.
Prior to joining Natixis, he worked for Dexia following 14 years in various large IT and telecommunications companies.
HINES ADDS CO-CEO
Hines, the global real estate firm, on February 11 announced that Laura Hines-Pierce has been promoted to co-CEO of the firm, effective immediately. She has served as Hines' senior managing director in the office of the CEO since 2020, and previously served as the firm's transformation officer.
Most recently, Laura joined the office of the CEO in 2020 and helped build the investment management platform that launched three flagship funds across the US and Asia with a total current investment capacity of $4.8 billion in equity translating to $10.8 billion in purchasing power. She has also integrated innovation into all areas of the business and further defined the firm's ESG commitments.
Prior to joining Hines, she worked for Sotheby's in New York.