Weekly roundup of people news, June 29
ONTARIO TEACHERS’ RINGS INVESTMENT HEAD CHANGES
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has named Ziad Hindo as its new chief investment officer and named Jo Taylor to the newly created role of executive managing director of global development.
Hindo was most recently head of the capital markets department and has been with the $189.5 billion ($143.2 billion) Canadian fund since 2000. He replaces former CIO Bjarne Graven Larsen, who left in April, having held the post since early 2016.
Based in London, Taylor most recently ran Ontario Teachers’ international investment operations in London and Hong Kong. Relocating to Toronto from London , he will be responsible for “elevating the organisation’s global mindset”, said the fund in a statement.
Hindo and Taylor both report to president and chief executive Ron Mock.
JP MORGAN PB'S SE ASIA INVESTMENT HEAD MOVES ON
Christophe Aba, JP Morgan Private Bank's head of investments for Southeast Asia, has been appointed head of investments for Mexico and will relocate to the US, a spokeswoman confirmed.
Aba will report to Eduardo Loja, who is the investment team leader for Latin America.
Diana Robinson, head of equities for Europe, Middle East and Africa, will replace Aba, relocating to Singapore from London. She will report to Chris Blum, head of investments for Asia.
The spokeswoman said the changes would take effect in the third quarter of this year but no date had been decided yet. She also told AsianInvestor no replacement had been decided for Robinson as yet.
1MDB GETS NEW CHAIRMAN
Asri Hamidon has been appointed chairman of Malaysia's scandal-tainted wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), effective June 25.
He was deputy secretary-general overseeing government investment at the Treasury.
In addition, 1MDB has formed a new executive committee with Mohammed Faiz Azmi, Rashidah Mohd Sies and Wan Mohd Fadzmi Wan Othman as members.
AsianInvestor was unable to contact 1MDB and the Malaysian Ministry of Finance also did not respond to a query on whether Hamidon continues his role at the Treasury or if there would be a replacement.
Last month, Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah was removed from his post as 1MDB chairman by the chief secretary to the government, according to a local media report.
BARINGS ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS NAMES REAL ESTATE AND PE MD
US asset manager Barings Alternative Investments has appointed Pius Ho as managing director of real estate, private equity and real assets.
Hong Kong-based Ho is responsible for developing Barings’ real estate, private equity and real asset strategies in Asia.
He started on May 9 and reports to Scott Brown, global head of real estate, and Jon Rotolo, head of private equity and real assets, a Barings spokeswoman said.
The role is newly created, as Barings did not previously have a real estate or private equity presence in Hong Kong, the spokeswoman added.
Prior to joining Barings, Ho was managing director for Asian real estate at Malaysia-based fund house Guidance Investments, according to the firm's website.
Before that he was founder and chief executive of Moonbridge Capital, a strategic operating partner for institutional investors seeking exposure to the real estate sector in Greater China.
Ho has also held leadership positions in the Middle East and Asia with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Citi Property Investors and LaSalle Investment Management.
SSGA HIRES HEAD OF CAPITAL MARKETS FOR EMEA AND APAC
State Street Global Advisors has appointed Marcus Miholich as head of capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific.
The appointment took effect on June 26. He was previously the head of SPDR ETFs for the Nordic region, and he will hire a replacement in that role. The search is under way now, a company spokeswoman said.
Miholich will continue to be based in London and report to Tim Coyne, global head of capital markets for the global SPDR exchange-traded funds business.
Miholich replaces Paul Young who has left the company to pursue a new opportunity, the spokeswoman said.
JP MORGAN AM RELOCATES BETA STRATEGIES PM TO HK
JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) has appointed Albert Chuang as a portfolio manager in its Asia beta strategies team.
The appointment took effect on June 26 and he reports to Yazann Romahi, London-based chief investment officer and quantitative beta strategist.
Chuang was previously a London-based portfolio manager at JPMAM and relocated this month. He will hold similar responsibilities in Hong Kong, but will also focus on developing investment strategies for the Asian markets and interface with clients here in Asia. No one will fill his previous role in London, a company spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, Jason Leung was appointed investment specialist in the same team in December last year. He reports to Sherene Ban, London-based global head of beta investment specialists.
Leung’s role is a new one, the spokeswoman said, declining to comment on who was responsible for his duties before he took up the role.
Leung was previously a senior investment specialist with JP Morgan Private Bank, which declined to comment on who succeeded him.
EFG NAMES SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG PB HEADS
Swiss private bank EFG has named Richard Straus as head of private banking for Hong Kong, while Oliver Balmelli has been named head of private banking for Singapore, a spokesman confirmed to AsianInvestor.
He said both appointments were already effective but did not provide an exact start date.
Balmelli was previously EFG’s co-head of private banking for Singapore, while Straus joins from Bank Julius Baer. AsianInvestor understands Straus, who was team head of Greater China at Julius Baer, left a few months ago. AsianInvestor could not ascertain the exact month of his departure.
Separately, Eng Huat Kong, head of the Singapore branch, is set to retire at the end of this year.
AsianInvestor was unable to ascertain to whom Straus or Balmelli report at EFG or if these are new roles or replacements. EFG did not respond to queries.
MALAYSIAN CENTRAL BANK GETS NEW GOVERNOR
Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus has been appointed as governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, effective July 1 for a five-year term.
She was previously the central bank's deputy governor from 2010 to 2016. As deputy dovernor, she was responsible for banking, insurance and Takaful supervision, financial intelligence and enforcement, talent management, finance and shared services of the central bank.
More recently, she served as assistant director of the monetary and capital markets division of the International Monetary Fund.
Previous central bank governor Muhammad Ibrahim resigned three years before the end of his term, after Mahathir Mohamad outsted former prime minister Najib Razak in a landmark election in May.
The IMF did not respond to queries from AsianInvestor on whether Nor had stepped down from her position or whether a replacement had been announced.
CONTINEO HIRES FORMER DBS PRIVATE BANK AS CEO
Contineo, a Hong Kong-based messaging network and data provider for structured products, has appointed Antoine de Charnacé as chief executive, effective immediately.
De Charnacé joined Contineo from DBS Private Bank.
He replaces Mark Munoz, who has decided to step down to focus on other business opportunities, Contineo said in a media statement.
Munoz will remain with Contineo over a transition period, the company said in its statement.
DBS did not immediately respond to AsianInvestor queries on when de Charnace had left the private bank or whether there had been a replacement.
LMAX APPOINTS GLOBAL HEAD OF INSTITUTIONAL SALES
British institutional FX trading exchange LMAX Exchange Group has named Roland White as global head of institutional sales.
Effective July 30, White will oversee the institutional sales team in building relationships with global institutions.
The role is newly created, and he will report to David Mercer, chief executive of LMAX Exchange.
LMAX did not respond to queries on who covered institutional sales prior to White’s hire.
He was most recently head of electronic exchange sales at German bank Commerzbank. Commerzbank did not respond to AsianInvestor queries on his exit date and whether a replacement had been named yet.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor this week:
Legg Mason, Mackenzie install China chiefs
OMGI Asia head to exit after equity team closure