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Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 18

Korea's Poba names former head of investment at DB Insurance as CIO; Queensland Investment Corporation hires head of alternative income for real estate; Vision Super adds to board; Former NPS real estate executive joins Stockbridge; Dai-ichi Life promotes senior investment managers; Ex-GIC infrastructure head for North America joins EQT; Eastspring head of Asean equities resigns; and more.
Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 18

POBA NAMES NEW CIO

Heo Jang

Korea’s public pension fund Public Officials Benefit Association (Poba) has named Heo Jang, former head of investment at DB Insurance as its new chief investment officer following the departure of Jang Dong-hun after two terms since 2015, the pension fund told AsianInvestor

The outgoing CIO’s last day with Poba was Tuesday, February 15. Heo Jang started his three-year term this week. Before joining Poba, Heo Jang was head of investment at DB Insurance, a role he held from 2013 till the end of 2020. DB Insurance could not be contacted for comment on his replacement.

He was selected from a shortlist of three CIO candidates by the end of 2021. The other two were Kim Bae-sik, former head of Samsung Life's alternative investment business, and an unnamed head of a Korean asset manager. 

QIC HIRES NEW HEAD OF ALTERNATIVE INCOME FOR REAL ESTATE

Sally Harding

The Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) has hired Sally Harding as its new head of alternative income for its real estate business.

Harding joined QIC at the end of January and reports directly to the general manager of shopping centre management, Stephen Dewaele.

She will be responsible for all income streams across QIC’s retail portfolio in her new role. These include the growth and management of income for brand and media partnerships, pop-up retail, car parking, embedded networks, third-party logistics hubs, and online retail platforms.

Prior to her appointment at QIC, Harding spent 11 years at Lendlease and most recently held the position as its head of commercialisation, asset management. Before that she held roles with Westfield and AMP Capital Shopping Centres.

VISION SUPER APPOINTS VIJAYA VAIDYANATH TO ITS BOARD

Vijaya Vaidyanath

Vision Super added Vijaya Vaidyanath to its board on January 1.

The Australian community industry super fund has appointed Vaidyanath to replace Geoff Lake, who served on its board for 12 years.

Vaidyanath is the former chief executive of the City of Yarra and is the inaugural chief executive of Homes Melbourne, which works to provide affordable housing alongside the government, property sector, community housing providers and philanthropies.

She has previously held leadership roles in universities and global banks, which include the Reserve Bank of India where she worked for around 15 years.

FORMER NPS REAL ESTATE EXPERT JOINS US PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM

Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS)’s former real estate expert David Park has joined US-based private equity real estate investment firm Stockbridge as a managing director.

In his new role, Park will focus on acquisitions, capital formation and portfolio strategy for the firm’s opportunistic and platform business, which is oriented towards large-scale programmatic ventures, it announced on February 10.

Park was a senior vice president at NPS’s New York office since 2015 before joining Stockbridge, leading real estate investments in the Americas. NPS has closed partnerships with Stockbridge, including a $2 billion joint venture in logistics facilities across the US in December 2020.  

NPS didn’t reply to comment on Park’s replacement.

VICTORIAN FUNDS MANAGEMENT APPOINTS HEAD OF INVESTMENT STEWARDSHIP

Shali Lingaretnam

The Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC) has named Shali Lingaretnam as head of investment stewardship in an ongoing capacity, having been acting in the role since July 2021, the sovereign wealth fund of Australia’s State of Victoria announced on Thursday (February 17).

Lingaretnam is responsible for leading VFMC’s investment stewardship and ESG activities across VFMC’s investment portfolio. The appointment has been effective since February 1, 2022. Based in Melbourne, Lingaretnam reports to chief investment officer Russell Clarke, the fund told AsianInvestor.

Lingaretnam joined VFMC in May 2020 as senior portfolio manager in the equities team. She was appointed to the role of acting head of investment stewardship in July 2021, following the departure of VFMC’s former head of investment stewardship, Talieh Williams.

HKEX APPOINTS CO-HEAD OF IPO VETTING

Li-Chien Wong

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced on January 16 that it has appointed Li-Chien Wong as managing director, co-head of IPO Vetting.

Wong will work in partnership with Stephanie Lau to oversee all issuer listing applications and lead a team to support the ongoing development of Hong Kong’s presence as a global listing venue.

Her appointment to HKEX will be in effect on March 15, and she will report to Bonnie Y Chan, HKEX head of listing. Wong succeeds Janice Wu, who will leave HKEX at the end of March. Wu has reportedly joined a private equity firm and will leave Hong Kong, according to the Hong Kong Economic Times and Ming Pao. 

Wong was most recently at law firm Kirkland & Ellis, where she had been a partner since 2011. Before that she worked at law firm Skadden for five years.

Kazuyuki Shigemoto

DAI-ICHI LIFE INSURANCE PROMOTES SENIOR INVESTMENT MANAGERS

Approaching a new financial year starting April 1, Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance promoted chief general manager for investment Kazuyuki Shigemoto from executive officer to managing executive officer. It also promoted head of investment planning department Takashi Iida from executive officer to director, managing executive officer. Both promotions will be effective from April 1, 2022.

Takashi Iida

Shigemoto’s responsibilities will remain unchanged, Dai-ichi Life told AsianInvestor

Iida will have expanded responsibilities including the oversight of marketing strategies, corporate and structured finance and investment administration, in addition to his current capacity of leading investment planning, real estate management, separate account management, and retirement, saving and asset strategy.

The Japanese life insurer announced the promotions on Monday (February 14), alongside dozens of other promotions and retirement announcements across different departments including investment, products, human resources and public relations.

Shigemoto joined Dai-ichi Life in 1991. He served at several senior positions including head of fixed income investment and investment planning before becoming head of investment in April 2019.

Iida joined Dai-ichi Life in 1994 and has been in charge of Dai-ichi Life’s investment planning, real estate management, separate account management, and retirement, saving and asset management. 

EX-GIC EXECUTIVE ALEX GREENBAUM JOINS SWEDEN’S EQT AB

Alex Greenbaum

Swedish investment firm EQT AB has hired GIC’s former head of infrastructure for North America Alex Greenbaum.

A Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources said New York-based Greenbaum will be a co-partner leading a vehicle known as EQT Active Core Infrastructure starting in March.

The Stockholm-based firm said in January that it planned to raise 5 billion euros (US$7.6 billion) for the fund. EQT officials did not respond to requests for comment by press time while GIC declined to comment. Greenbaum could not be contacted for comment.

Greenbaum, who joined GIC in 2015, worked on investment projects involving names such as Duke Energy and ITC Holdings, as well as a partnership with Brookfield Infrastructure on the privatisation of a US rail company.

Last month, EQT annunced that former Temasek CEO Ho Ching has been appointed advisor to EQT Future, an impact-driven, longer-hold fund of the Swedish firm. 

EASTSPRING INVESTMENT’S HEAD OF ASEAN EQUITIES RESIGNS

Investment veteran Chow Wing Kin has left Eastspring Investments after more than two decades with the company to take a career break.

As head of Asean equities, Chow, who was based in Singapore, oversaw the company’s $97.9 million Indonesia equity portfolio, as well as the firm's Singapore and Thailand equity funds. 

His responsibilities have been taken over by head of growth equities John Tsai who will serve as interim lead. Tsai will be assisted by portfolio manager Bryan Yeong, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.

Chow left the firm in the first half of February. In an email reply to AsianInvestor, the company’s representative said: “His departure was planned in advance and there was a smooth transition and handover of responsibilities."

MANULIFE IM ANNOUNCES HIRINGS AND UPDATES TO FIXED INCOME TEAM

Manulife Investment Management has announced several promotions and updates to its fixed-income investment teams.

Murray Collis

Murray Collis has been promoted to CIO for Asian fixed income from the deputy position and will assume oversight of the Asia ex-Japan franchise from Endre Pedersen, deputy CIO for global fixed income and CIO of global emerging-market fixed income. He will continue to report to Pederson.

Collis is based in Singapore and has over 20 years of industry experience, and 16 years in portfolio management in markets, including London, Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to joining Manulife in 2016, Collis was the head of Asian fixed income for Standish Mellon Asset Management. Prior to that, he spent 16 years with First State Investments covering currencies, global bonds and credit.

Alvin Ong

In addition, portfolio manager Alvin Ong has been promoted to the role of head of Singapore fixed income. He will continue to report to Murray Collis.

Ong joined Manulife in 2014 and has over 14 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Manulife, Ong was at AXA investment as a portfolio manager for Hong Kong and Singapore fixed income markets. Before that he was a portfolio manager at the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

For a full list of updates to Manulife IM’s fixed income team click here.

SCHRODERS CAPITAL MAKES SENIOR APPOINTMENT TO APAC REAL ESTATE TEAM

Andrew Haskins

Schroders Capital announced on February 16 that it has appointed Andrew Haskins as its head of strategy and investor advisory for its real estate team in Asia Pacific.

In this newly created role, Haskins will be based in Hong Kong and will be responsible for providing his team with insight on markets, asset classes and best risk weighted investment strategies. He will report to Andrew Moore, head of Schroders Capital’s real estate division in Asia Pacific.

Schroders Capital is the private assets division of global asset manager Schroders.

Haskins will also work closely with the real estate and broader private assets teams at Schroders Capital. He is a veteran of real estate and equities markets with 33 years of experience across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Prior to joining Schroders, Haskins spent six years as the Asia head of research and Asia head of strategic advisory services for Colliers. He has also previously served global institutional clients for Mercury Asset Management, HSBC, Nomura and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

SILVERHORN APPOINTS NEW CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER

Roger Prinz

Hong Kong-based investment firm Silverhorn has appointed Roger Prinz as its new chief investment officer to lead Silverhorn’s growing investment team across all three business verticals: multi-asset, private equity, and private debt.

According to his LinkedIn, he took up the post in October 2021 while based in Zurich. AsianInvestor understands he will be returning to Hong Kong in February 2022. Before joining Silverhorn, Prinz was the CIO of Spectrum Value Management, a Swiss single-family office since 2019.

Prinz is also the board member of Hong Kong-based Landmark Capital, an Asia-focused investment management firm in multiple asset classes including private equity, equities, fixed income and art.

Silverhorn did not respond to request for further details.

BOND CONNECT NAMES NEW GENERAL MANAGER

Wang Tong

Bond Connect Company, a joint venture established by China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), has appointed Tony Wang Tong as general manager, it announced on Tuesday (February 15).

In the new role, Wang is responsible for Bond Connect Company’s overall business development strategy and the management of its daily operations. He succeeds Julien Martin, who has been appointed to a new role at HKEX leading the group’s emerging business development since July 2021.

Wang joins Bond Connect from Bank of China (Hong Kong), where he has been general manager of global markets for the past six years, managing its treasury sales and trading, as well as banknote wholesale business, in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

Bond Connect did not respond to requests for comment on more details of the appointment.

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