Weekly roundup of people news, March 17
FUBON LIFE HONG KONG NAMES NEW CEO
Fubon Life Insurance (Hong Kong) Company on March 13 announced that it has promoted Patricia Wong as the new chief executive officer with immediate effect.
Reporting to the board of Fubon Life Hong Kong, Wong will be responsible for spearheading the growth and development of Fubon Life Hong Kong.
Before becoming the Hong Kong CEO, Wong was chief sales and marketing officer of Fubon Life Hong Kong from September 2015.
The former CEO Jerry Chou has been relocated from Hong Kong to the Taiwan home office to take up a new role as executive vice president for the dancassurance and multi-channel division, effective on March 13, the firm told AsianInvestor.
Wong has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the insurance and financial industry. She has been with Fubon Group since 2001 where she has been iinvolved in setting up the insurer's business operations in the Hong Kong market.
SPIRIT SUPER HIRES DEPUTY CIO
Industry superannuation fund Spirit Super has hired Philip Naylor as its new deputy chief investment officer, with effect from April 1.
In addition to being deputy chief investment officer, Naylor will also serve as general manager of the fund's investment strategy. He will continue to be based in Melbourne.
He joins from Frontier where was the head of capital markets and asset allocation for almost five years. Before joining Frontier, Naylor was an economic advisor to the Northern Territory Government and has also held roles with the Reserve Bank of Australia and Macquarie.
Frontier did not respond to AsianInvestor's request for comment on Naylor's replacement at the time of publication.
HKMA EXCHANGE FUND DEPUTY CEO RETIRES
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)’s deputy chief executive officer of the Exchange Fund Investment Office Francis Chu retired on March 11 after almost 30 years with the institution.
Before retirement, Chu oversaw the operations of the Exchange Fund Investment Office and led the professional teams in managing asset allocation of the HK$4 trillion ($510 billion) Exchange Fund.
Chu joined HKMA, Hong Kong’s de facto central bank, in 1995 as a senior manager in the monetary operations division after over 15 years in the private sector.
In response to AsianInvestor’s enquiry on Chu’s successor, a spokesperson said: “There are established protocols in the HKMA for hiring and assignment of duties. The relevant work arrangements will be confirmed in due course.”
LINK GROUP HIRES HONG KONG GM FOR RETIREMENT SOLUTIONS
Link Group’s retirement and superannuation solutions business in Hong Kong has appointed Rebel Jones in the newly created role of general manager for client partnerships in Asia, effective April 3.
Based in Hong Kong, Jones reports to Dee McGrath, CEO for retirement and superannuation solutions. She will also be part of the retirement and superannuation solutions executive leadership team.
This senior appointment follows the recent announcement of a strategic partnership between Link Group’s retirement and superannuation solutions business and HSBC. The partnership will see the technology solutions provider deliver digital administration and value-added services to HSBC’s Occupational Retirement Scheme Ordinance clients.
Jones will have end-to-end accountability for business growth and be responsible for leading strategic business development across government, industry, retail and corporate pension clients in Asia.
Jones was previously with Ernst & Young as partner for financial services technology consulting, based in Hong Kong. She has previously worked with HSBC and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority.
AUSTRALIAN ETHICAL WELCOMES NEW CIO
Australian Ethical has named Ludovic Theau as its new chief investment officer, with effect from April 3.
Theau will continue to be based in Sydney. He replaces David Macri who resigned in September last year.
The former chief investment officer of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Theau has more than three decades of experience in investment management and investment banking across Europe and Australia.
Theau has also previously held roles with Hastings, Westpac, ABN Amro, Macquarie, UBS and BNP Paribas and has experience in multiple asset classes including infrastructure, structured debt, public equities, private markets, and private equity venture capital.
ENDOWUS HIRES CHIEF INVESTMENT ADVISOR
Asian digital wealth management platform Endowus has appointed Hugh Chung as its chief investment advisory officer, effective February, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
In this new created role, Chung will lead the collective efforts of the centralised investment office across the Endowus Group. He will report to and work closely with Samuel Rhee, chairman and chief investment officer.
According to his LinkedIn, Chung was most recently with Southeast Asia-focused HR software firm GreatDay HR as chief executive officer out of Singapore, a role he held for six months. Prior to this, he was investment director at family office Mornington Services.
Chung has also worked at Kadensa Capital, J.P. Morgan Chase, Azentus Capital, Goldman Sach and Samsun Securities.
The story has been updated in para 4.