Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 21
FUTURE FUND’S PRIVATE PROPERTY HEAD DEPARTS
Australia’s Future Fund recorded another senior investment executive departure when Stewart Tillyard, its head of unlisted property investment, resigned from the sovereign wealth fund on February 14.
A spokeswoman for Future Fund confirmed that Tillyard resigned from his position and that Wendy Norris, deputy CIO for private markets, will take over his duties while the fund seeks to replace him. Future Fund's property portfolio was valued at over A$10 billion at the end of December.
According to a Future Fund statement, Tillyard decided to leave to "pursue other opportunities”. He did so 11 years after joining the A$168 billion ($113 billion) sovereign wealth fund during a period of restructuring. During his stint he had been acting head of private equity for a period.
Tillyard’s departure marks the continuation of a period of change among Future Fund’s senior investment personnel. Last week the fund announced chief executive David Neal was leaving to take over IFM Investors, while in December its head of equities Björn Kvarnskog left to join the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The spokeswoman said Tillyard's departure was unrelated to that of Neal.
Future Fund's unlisted property division has also seen turnover. Sally Box reportedly left the fund just a few months after she had joined as a director of unlisted property, a job in which she reported to Tillyard.
HSBC TO MAKE ASIA CUTS AMID GLOBAL RESTRUCTURING
HSBC plans to cut 35,000 staff over three years while merging its retail banking, wealth management and global private banking in a bid to cut costs by $4.5 billion, the bank said earlier this week.
"As we combine capabilities, platforms and resources, we will seek to reduce duplication of activities," the spokeswoman said. "However, we are not working to a target number of role reductions."
She stressed, however, that Asia remained a key driver of HSBC’s growth plans and that it intended to increase business and investment in the region. Recruitment is also taking place to support its wealth strategy in Asia, which covers private banking, asset management and insurance, she added.
FTSE RUSSELL HIRES APAC HEAD OF SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT
Index provider FTSE Russell has appointed Helena Fung as its first head of sustainable investments for Asia Pacific.
Fung joined in Hong Kong on January 6 and reports to Sylvain Chateau, London-based co-founder and chief operating officer of Beyond Ratings, which is part of London Stock Exchange Group, like FTSE Russell.
Fung’s role was created in response to rising interest in ESG in Asia, said a person familiar with her hire. She will be responsible for developing the firm’s sustainable investment indices and data services across the region.
She joined from an Asian family office, but a FTSE Russell spokeswoman declined to provide its identity. While there, Fung was an investment specialist focused on ESG integration, equity analysis and advising on philanthropy.
CREDIT SUISSE NAMES ESG HEAD IN APAC
Credit Suisse has appointed Phineas Glover as head of environmental, social and governance (ESG) research for Asia-Pacific.
Glover joined the bank in April 2018 as Australia head of ESG research, based in Sydney, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he was Australia head of ESG equity research for investment bank Macquarie.
His LinkedIn page said he was based in Sydney in the previous role and started in the new position this month.
Credit Suisse did not respond to inquiries to confirm those points or as to whether Glover had replaced anyone, where he is based now, or to whom he reports.
SAVILLS APPOINTS MALAYSIA HEAD OF ASSET MANAGEMENT
Savills has named Dougie Crichton as Malaysia head of asset management to replace Stephen Pyne, who left in December last year.
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Crichton joined on February 3 and reports to senior management executives in Malaysia and elsewhere, a spokeswoman for Savills said, declining to disclose more details on his reporting line.
Crichton was previously an asset manager at CBRE from January 2019, overseeing a project to help develop HSBC's new headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, according to his LinkedIn page.
He also worked as a freelance consultant for Edge Buildings in Indonesia from April 2018, as a Jarkarta-based managing director and then consultant for property developer Farpoint from 2013 to 2017, and before that for estate adviser Pamfleet and property developer Hongkong Land.
CBRE declined to comment on Crichton's previous role.
BNP PARIBAS AM'S EM DEBT HEAD DEPARTS
BNP Paribas Asset Management promoted Jean-Charles Sambor to head of emerging market fixed income on February 12 to replace Bryan Carter, who left the French firm this month.
London-based Sambor had been deputy head of the function since its inception in February 2016 and was one of the key architects of the 14-strong team’s investment approach, BNPP AM said in a release. Five members of the team are based in Asia, specifically in Hong Kong and Singapore.
AsianInvestor could not ascertain Carter’s next destination.
A BNP Paribas spokesman declined to confirm whether Sambor would be replaced, saying only that Sambor "has always been involved in macro decisions relating to the fund ... Now he has sole responsibility for this performance driver while working closely with his team on the ground.
Sambor had joined in 2016 from the Institute of International Finance, where he was the Asia-Pacific director based in Singapore. Before that he worked at Everest Capital, TCW and Société Générale.
FORMER BNP PARIBAS EXEC JOINS SINGALLIANCE
SingAlliance, an asset and wealth manager based in Singapore, has poached Luc Cardyn from BNP Paribas, where he was head of Indonesia.
Cardyn started his new role in Singapore on February 10 as a senior adviser. He reports to chief executive Thierry Beck.
It's a new role to expand the team and grow the wealth management business in Asia, Beck told AsianInvestor.
BNP Paribas will announce Cardyn's replacement in due course, a spokeswoman for the French bank said.
ALLIANZ REAL ESTATE RESEARCH HEAD JOINS ANREV BOARD
Megan Walters, the recently appointed global head of research at Allianz Real Estate based initially in Singapore, has joined the management board of the Asian Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles (Anrev).
Walters, who is set to relocate to London with Allianz RE at an unspecified date, joined Anrev as an additional member of the board with a view to helping broaden and diversify its coverage of its regional and global constituency, a spokesman told AsianInvestor. As the association grows, the board considers creating additional places.
The board is chaired by Nicholas Loup, group vice chairman and chief executive of Chelsfield Asia.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the past week: