ONTARIO TEACHERS’ PENSION PLAN APPOINTS APAC MD

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has named Ben Chan as its regional managing director for Asia Pacific.

Chan will take up the Hong Kong-based role on June 1. He will lead investment activities in the region for the Toronto-headquartered pension fund as it looks to grow its investments in Asia Pacific.

He will report to Jo Taylor, the pension fund's senior managing director international, who is based in London. Taylor is also overseeing Asia Pacific on an interim basis after Nicole Musicco, previously managing director for the region, returned to Canada at the start of last year on being promoted to senior managing director for public equities.

Chan joins from Malaysia's wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad, where he was co-head of investments and led investment activities in China. Khazanah Nasional Berhad declined to comment on his departure.

HSBC INSURANCE SINGAPORE NAMES NEW CEO

HSBC Insurance (Singapore) has appointed Carlos Vazquez as chief executive officer, effective March 12.

Vazquez succeeds Ian Martin, who will be assuming a new global role at HSBC Group Insurance, based in London. HSBC did not respond to queries from AsianInvestor on the new role.

Vazquez’s key mandate is to accelerate the growth of HSBC Insurance in Singapore, expanding its strategic distribution partnerships, and delivering direct-to-consumer digital solutions, HSBC said in a media statement.

Vazquez joins HSBC Insurance from Manulife (Singapore), where he was chief product officer and helped launch Manulife's partnership with DBS. He has previously served as chief product officer for Manulife in Indonesia.

A search for his replacement is under way, a Manulife spokeswoman told AsianInvestor. In the interim, Mathew Hoover will be acting chief product officer, effective immediately.

Having joined Manulife in 2008, Hoover was appointed head of product last year, she added.

FIDELITY APPOINTS HEAD OF ASIA FIXED INCOME

Fidelity International has promoted Bryan Collins to head of Asia fixed income from February 1.

Hong Kong-based Collins, previously a portfolio manager in the Asian fixed income team, oversees the Asian fixed income portfolio management and investment directing team, while continuing to manage his existing funds, a Fidelity spokeswoman said. Fidelity declined to comment on who Collins reports to. 

He started his role in January, replacing Olivier Szwarcberg, the spokeswoman added. However, the Asia fixed income research team, which reported to Szwarcberg, is now part of the global fixed income research team managed by head of fixed income research Marty Dropkin, according to the spokeswoman.

AsianInvestor was not able to ascertain what Szwarcberg is doing now.

BANK OF SINGAPORE APPOINTS HK CEO

Bank of Singapore has appointed Derrick Tan as chief executive for its Hong Kong branch.

Tan will also continue in his previous role as global market head for Greater China and North Asia. Effective March 6, he has taken on additional duties as branch CEO in Hong Kong, in which capacity he reports to Bahren Shaari, CEO of Bank of Singapore.

Sermon Kwan, his predecessor, is staying on as senior adviser to the bank. A company spokesman declined to comment on why Kwan stepped down from the role and whether his capacity as a senior adviser was a temporary arrangement.

BNP PARIBAS NAMES HEAD OF PRIME BROKERAGE FOR APAC

BNP Paribas appointed Carl Davey as head of prime brokerage sales for Asia Pacific in February.

Based in Hong Kong, he reports to three supervisors, namely Benjamin Dufour, head of prime solutions and financing; Valery Bloud, head of equities and credit flow distribution and head of institutional clients; and Matthew Clark, global head of prime brokerage sales.

This is a newly created role, a company spokeswoman said, declining to comment on who looked after the duties Davey has now taken on before he came on board.

Davey previously led the Asia hedge fund sales team at Citigroup, a role he left in October last year. Citigroup declined to comment on his departure.

VP BANK NAMES HEAD OF PRIVATE BANKING IN SINGAPORE

VP Bank Singapore, a subsidiary of Liechtenstein-based private bank VP Bank, has appointed Kimmis Pun as head of private banking.

Effective March 15, Singapore-based Pun oversees the subsidiary’s team of private banking relationship managers, targeting markets in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, a VP Bank spokeswoman said.

She reports to Bruno Morel, chief executive of VP Bank Singapore, the spokeswoman added.

Pun takes over from Andrew Tjia, who ended his role as head of private banking in January, according to the spokeswoman.

Most recently, Pun was Singapore-based market head of Greater China for private banking at Standard Chartered, before announcing her departure in December 2017, as reported by AsianInvestor.

SAXO BANK APPOINTS GREATER CHINA CEO

Danish multi-asset and investment fintech group Saxo Bank has named Vivienne Yu as chief executive of Greater China.

Effective March 15, Yu oversees the expansion of Saxo Bank’s services and customer base in the region, which includes family offices and hedge funds, as well as developing and managing relationships with partners in China and Hong Kong. It is a newly created role, a Saxo Bank spokesman said.

Hong Kong-based Yu reports to Saxo founder and chief executive Kim Fournais, according to the spokesman.

Most recently, she was chief executive for China at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The Australian bank declined to comment on Yu’s departure, as well as who would be replacing her in that role.

STANDARD CHARTERED APPOINTS PRIVATE BANKING MD

UK bank Standard Chartered has named Nakul Beri as managing director of private banking in its global South Asian community team, a bank spokeswoman said.

The Singapore-based Beri joined the bank earlier in March, according to the spokeswoman. He reports to Vishal Jain, managing director and market head of South and Southeast Asia private banking, she added.

Standard Chartered declined to comment on whether Beri was replacing anyone, or if the role is newly created.

Most recently, he was a managing director at Swiss private bank J. Safra Sarasin. The private bank has not named a replacement for Beri, according to a J. Safra Sarasin spokeswoman.

BANK OF SINGAPORE ADDS TO INTERNATIONAL TEAM

Bank of Singapore has hired Anthony Adriano Simicic as managing director in the international team effective March 12.

Simicic will report to Oliver Denis, global market head for Singapore, Malaysia and international.

Bank of Singapore did not comment on whether the role is new or if Simicic is replacing someone.

Prior to joining Bank of Singapore, Simicic was managing director and head of private banking with HSBC Private Bank in Luxembourg.

Media reports said Mark Winterflood, previously the global head of pricing for HSBC Private Banking in the UK, succeeded Simicic as head of HSBC's private banking operations in Luxembourg.

JLL APAC APPOINTS SENIOR DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL

Tim Graham has moved to JLL Asia Pacific as senior director of international capital. Based in Singapore, he focuses on managing cross-border investors in the region, and reports to Stuart Crow, head of Asia Pacific capital markets. The appointment took effect in mid-March.

The new appointement represents an expansion of the team, a spokeswoman said as JLL, a real estate and investment management firm, moves to boost its funds advisory, debt and transactions businesses.

Graham started his career at JLL in 2001, where he worked in the city of London's investment team. He subsequently worked at LaSalle Investment Management before returning to JLL in 2006.