Weekly roundup of people news, Jan 24
SUN LIFE NAMES GENERAL MANAGER FOR FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
Canadian insurer Sun Life appointed Martin Fortier, formerly its chief risk officer for Malaysia, as Hong Kong general manager for financial affairs on January 1.
In his newly created role, Fortier oversees strategy development and financial affairs, across functions including finance, actuarial, risk, asset-and-liability management, investment and trustee business. He reports to Fabien Jeudy, Sun Life’s Hong Kong chief executive.
A company spokeswoman declined to comment on how those areas had been overseen before Fortier’s appointment or who would succeed him in his former position. She noted that the new role has been created to capture new business opportunities as the firm grows in size.
PIMCO NAMES APAC CLIENT HEAD
Pimco has named Adrian Stewart, previously head of Australia and New Zealand, as head of client management for Asia Pacific ex-Japan as of January 21.
He will relocate to the US fund manager’s Hong Kong office in the near future and continues to report to Kimberley Stafford, Hong Kong-based head of Asia Pacific. Stewart retains responsibility for Australian and New Zealand client relationships.
Michael Thompson will remain head of Asia ex-Japan client management, looking after clients in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Asia, South Korea and Taiwan. He will report to Stewart.
Before joining Pimco in 2014, Stewart was head of wholesale distribution, marketing and product management at Australian bank Macquarie.
JLL MAKES SENIOR HIRES IN AUSTRALIA
Real estate services firm JLL has appointed Fergal Harris as head of Australia capital markets and Kathleen Stubbs as chief information officer for Australia and New Zealand.
Harris will relocate from Singapore to Sydney and start in his newly created role in February, said the firm. He will focus on strengthening client relationships and developing new business lines. A JLL spokeswoman didn’t specify who had previously held these responsibilities, but according to a press release they are now being focused on due to higher demand for Australian capital markets services.
Harris had previously been head of debt advisory for Asia Pacific at JLL since May 2017 and will retain oversight of that function. He reports to Stuart Crow, Asia-Pacific chief executive of capital markets, and Stephen Conry, CEO for Australia and New Zealand.
Before joining JLL, Harris had worked at Standard Chartered Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Reporting to Conry, Sydney-based Stubbs started in her position in January, a spokeswoman said.
JLL’s previous Australia CIO, Andrew Clowes, left in June 2019 after 10 years in the role and a 20-year career at the company, she added.
Most recently, Stubbs was London-based global head of infrastructure and service delivery and deputy global CIO for real estate services firm Knight Frank.
Knight Frank didn’t respond to inquiries about when Stubbs left and who had taken over her responsibilities.
NOAH APPOINTS CHIEF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Chinese wealth manager Noah International has named Raymond Tam as chief business development officer, a newly created role, effective January 6.
Reporting to Oscar Liu, Hong Kong chief executive, Tam is responsible for developing the firm's brand and helping its affiliate Gopher Asset Management diversify its institutional client base globally. He is also tasked with expanding distribution channels and strengthening relationships with family offices.
Previously business development was covered by Liu and Noah's chief investment officer, William Ma.
Tam joined from Pickers Capital Management, where he was a Hong Kong-based advisory board member. He left on December 25, and the firm is seeking a replacement, the firm’s spokeswoman said.
STANDARD CHARTERED PB NAMES SENIOR CLIENT PARTNER
Standard Chartered Private Bank has appointed Gerald See to what it said was a newly created role as Singapore-based senior client partner.
He joined on January 20 to focus on clients in the ultra-high-net-worth segment, which is a new area of particular client focus for the bank, AsianInvestor understands. See reports to Gavin Chia, market head for private banking Singapore and Malaysia. Chia is based in Singapore.
He was previously a director in the global family office and ultra-high-net-worth division. The Swiss bank did not respond to queries as to when See left or whether he would be replaced.
CITI PRIVATE BANK APPOINTS SOUTH ASIA FX ADVISORY HEAD
Citi Private Bank has appointed Christian Schuwey as head of South Asia FX advisory with immediate effect, according to a January 20 release. He is based in Singapore and reports to Adam Cowperthwaite, head of capital markets for Asia Pacific.
Schuwey will be responsible for driving growth for Citi in South Asia, which includes markets such as Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, said a release. This region has historically been the main driver of Citi Private Bank’s Asia-Pacific foreign exchange business.
According to Schuwey’s LinkedIn profile, he most recently worked as senior financial adviser at Boccard & Partenaires, a Swiss wealth and asset manager – a role he had only held since September, according to his LinkedIn profile. Boccard didn’t respond to queries about when Schuwey left the firm and who had taken over his responsibilities.
Prior to his brief stint at Boccard, Schuwey had worked for UBS for 32 years, focusing on FX. UBS did not respond to questions on why Schuwey left and how it had covered his duties since.
Other AsianInvestor people news stories this week: