Weekly roundup of people news, July 13
FIDELITY’S ASIA HEAD LEAVES
Fidelity International’s managing director for Asia Pacific, Mark Talbot, retired at the end of June, a spokeswoman confirmed to AsianInvestor.
A search is under way for his replacement and an announcement will be made in due course, a spokeswoman for the London-based asset manager said.
In his position, Talbot was head of Fidelity International's operations for the region and was in charge of Asia-Pacific strategy.
Hong Kong-based Talbot joined Fidelity in June 2011. He has also previously worked Barclays Global Investors as chief executive and chief investment officer for Asia fixed income.
ABERDEEN STANDARD PE SPECIALIST EXITS
Aberdeen Standard Investments’ Zhao Yingzhe is leaving the company today (July 13), a spokeswoman confirmed to AsianInvestor.
She was an investment director for private equity at the UK-based asset manager in Hong Kong. Its private equity business makes investments on a global basis in secondaries, co-investments and venture capital, and her responsibilities in these strategies have already been taken over by the relevant teams, a company spokeswoman said.
Her responsibilities in primary fund commitments have been assumed by other China-focused members of the Asia Pacific private equity team, the spokeswoman added.
AsianInvestor could not ascertain Zhau’s next move.
MANULIFE AM'S ASIA WEALTH AND AM HEAD RETIRES
Manulife Asset Management’s Asia head of affiliate wealth, wealth and asset management, Shirley Lam has retired, AsianInvestor understands.
Lam’s SFC licence expired on June 29 and she left the Canadian fund house at the end of June.
She had been heading up affiliate wealth for Manulife AM since September 2015, after the fund house merged the wealth and asset management divisions earlier that year. Lam oversaw the distribution activities of Manulife AM’s Asia wealth solutions through tied distribution channels, as well as the regional portfolio and the investment advisory function.
Manulife AM did not respond to AsianInvestor queries on whether a replacement has been announced yet, or who is covering her former duties in the interim.
LASALLE IM’S STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS HEAD FOR APAC TO STEP DOWN
LaSalle Investment Management has announced that Ian Mackie, head of strategic partnerships for Asia Pacific and member of the Asia Pacific investment committee, will retire at the end of the year, the real estate manager said in a media statement.
Mackie is credited with establishing LaSalle’s business platform in Asia Pacific, recruiting staff and opening LaSalle offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai, the statement said.
In response to who would replace Mackie, Mark Gabbay, Apac chief executive for LaSalle IM, told AsianInvestor that the firm’s client executives who have been working closely with Mackie would now become responsible for strategic client relationships across various markets.
WAH HIN CHAIRMAN LEAVES TEMASEK BOARD
Michael Lien, chairman of Singapore-based Wah Hin & Co, the family office of the Lien family, has retired from the board of state investment firm Temasek. He stepped down in June after eight years on the board.
The Temasek board currently comprises 13 members. A spokesman for Temasek did not clarify if a replcement would be announced.
JULIUS BAER APPOINTS MARKET HEAD IN SINGAPORE
Julius Baer has appointed Michael Baechli as the Singapore-based group and market head for the Indian subcontinent (ISC) and non-resident Indians (NRI), according to the private bank's spokeswoman.
Baechli, currently the head for the ISC and NRI team in Dubai, will take up the new role on October 1. He will continue to report to Rolf Schaerer, Dubai-based head for ISC and NRI, in his new capacity.
He is replacing Parminder Soin, who is understood to have stepped down. The spokeswoman did not comment on whether Soin had left the private bank.
HSBC PRIVATE BANKING NAMES INDONESIA MARKET HEAD
HSBC Private Banking has appointed Benedikt Maissen as market head for Indonesia.
Maissen, who is based in Singapore, started his role on July 9, an HSBC spokeswoman said.
Responsible for business development and client relationships in the region, he reports to Philip Kunz, head of Southeast Asia.
Maissen was most recently chief executive for Singapore at Bank J Safra Sarasin, before departing the Swiss bank in January, a spokeswoman for the Swiss private bank said.
HSBC Private Banking declined to comment on who Maissen is replacing, but AsianInvestor reported in February that previous Indonesia market head Ingrid Widjaja had joined Deutsche Bank Wealth Management as group head of client coverage in Southeast Asia.
Vinay Sandhi took over the Singapore CEO role after Maissen’s departure, starting his role on January 26, the spokeswoman for Bank J Safra Sarasin said.
AVIVA INVESTORS HIRES EQUITIES TEAM
Aviva Investors, the asset management arm of UK insurer Aviva, has hired an equities team, most of which will be based in its new Edinburgh office opening at the end of July.
Eight of the individuals have come from recently merged group Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) and the team will cover global stocks including emerging market names. It includes SLA’s former head of Asia and global EM equities.
The follow the arrival in January of David Cumming as chief investment officer for equities; he was previously head of equities at SLA until March 2017.
Mikhail Zverev and Alistair Way will join as head of global equities and head of global EM equities, respectively.
Zverev will start on October 1 and was formerly head of global equities at Standard Life Investments (SLI), having joined that firm in 2007.
Way will join on July 16 and was formerly head of Asia and global EM equities at SLI, and had been there since 2007. Both will report to Cumming.
Jaime Ramos Martin, Stephanie Niven and Ross Mathison come in as global equity portfolio managers, reporting to Zverev. Jonathan Toub and Will Malcolm join as global EM portfolio managers, reporting to Way.
Henry Flockhart and Adam McInally will join as UK equity portfolio managers on July 16, reporting to Cumming.
They will all be based in Edinburgh at Aviva Investors.
Ramos Martin, Mathison, Toub, Malcolm, Flockhart and McInally also all come from SLI, where they performed similar roles, which have now been absorbed into the merged team, said an SLA spokeswoman.
Ramos Martin started on May 8, while Toub will start on August 20, Malcolm on July 23 and Niven on October 1.
Niven was previously global equity PM at UK-based Tesco Pension Investment and will be based in London at Aviva Investors.
Cumming said the team plans more equity hires this year.
Chris Murphy, global head of equities, had been leading the team before Cummings arrived and continues to lead the UK equity strategies.
The spokeswoman for SLA told AsianInvestor: "Inevitably when you merge two investment teams there will be departures."
Stephen Docherty is now head of global equities for the merged group, having held the same role at Aberdeen Asset Management before it combined with Standard Life.
Devan Kaloo is sole global head of equites at SLA following Cummings' departure, and is also head of EM equities, after Way's departure.
Will Ballard, EM portfolio manager, had looked after EM equities before and will now focus on the EM small-cap fund.
UBS APPOINTS DESK HEAD FOR HONG KONG
Andy Tam is joining UBS as desk head with the Hong Kong country team on July 25, AsianInvestor understands.
Asiannvestor understands this is a new role and represents an expansion of desk heads with the Hong Kong country team.
Tam joins from Credit Suisse, where he was executive director, according to his LinkedIn page. Credit Suisse did not respond to queries from AsianInvestor about Tam’s departure date and if there would be a replacement.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor last week: