Weekly roundup of people news, May 11
JANUS HENDERSON INVESTORS LOSES PAN-ASIA HEAD
Perpetual, an Australian financial services group that has fund management, financial advisory and trustee services, has announced that Rob Adams will be its new managing director and chief executive officer from September 24.
Adams joins from Janus Henderson Group where he was head of pan-Asia and a member of its global executive committee.
He previously worked at Challenger Funds Management and First State Investments (UK).
Adams joined Henderson in 2012 to establish and build an Australian business and then oversee operations across Asia, Perpetual said in a statement.
In his new role, Adams will succeed Geoff Lloyd who steps down on June 30. Lloyd will remain available to the company for the purposes of leadership transition, the statement said.
A statement from Janus Henderson Investors said the search for a replacement is underway but declined to provide any more details.
PINEBRIDGE HIRES EXECUTIVE FOR INSTO BIZ
PineBridge Investments has appointed Daniel Tai as senior vice-president for institutional business for Greater China.
Starting May 7, Tai reports to Maggie Zhao, managing director and head of institutional business for Greater China. Both are based in Hong Kong.
It is a newly created role, a company spokeswoman said, declining to comment on who looked after the duties now taken up Tai before he came on board.
Tai was previously the head of client servicing for North Asia at Amundi, which declined to comment on his departure.
Thirdrock Group, a Singapore-based independent asset manager, has appointed Jamus Lim as economist with effect from March 2018.
Lim was hired from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), where he had been the lead economist overseeing economic inputs that underpinned the sovereign fund's tactical and strategic asset allocation. He has also previously worked for the World Bank.
At Thirdrock's Singapore office, Lim provides its client advisers and clients with macro commentary, strategic perspectives and in-depth analysis. He reports to founder and CEO, Jason Lai.
A source with knowledge of the matter said Lim left ADIA in January and that his responsibilities were absorbed by the global research team.
ADIA declined to comment on whether a replacement for Lim had been named.
...WHILE ADIA NAMES NEW GLOBAL HEAD OF REAL ESTATE
ADIA has been doing its own shuffling, appointing Tom Arnold as global head of real estate effective June 1, a spokesman for the sovereign wealth fund confirmed to AsianInvestor.
Arnold, now deputy global head of real estate, will take over Bill Schwab, the spokesman added. Arnold has previously worked for Cerberus Capital Partners, Credit Suisse and ING Financial Services.
The spokesman did not respond to AsianInvestor queries on whether Schwab would continue with ADIA or leave the fund.
IMAS APPOINTS CHIEF EXECUTIVE
The Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS) has named Carmen Wee as chief executive.
Taking up her role in June, Wee will replace Michael Lim, who is retiring after over a decade with IMAS, an IMAS spokeswoman said.
Wee was most recently managing director of healthcare firm Cornerstone Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation, as well as course director at educational non-profit CEO Global USA, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She had several roles prior to these as well. According to her LinkedIn profile, Wee was career services director at the National University of Singapore Business School; a director and head of South Asia at Natixis Global Asset Management; the head of South Asia sales and distribution at Lehman Brothers Asset Management; head of institutional sales at DBS Asset Management; and deputy director of debt market development at the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
BNP PARIBAS WM NAMES CHIEF INVESTMENT ADVISER FOR HONG KONG
Grace Tam has joined BNP Paribas Wealth Management as chief investment adviser in Hong Kong, effective March 2018.
She joined from HSBC Asset Management where she was a senior market specialist and associate director. At BNP, Tam reports to Prashant Bhayani, the chief investment officer for Asia.
A spokeswoman for HSBC Global Asset Management said Tam left the firm in March, adding that the announcement of a replacement will be made in due course.
A spokeswoman for BNP Paribas declined to comment on who handled Tam's role previously.
THREE DIRECTORS TO RESIGN FROM AMP BOARD
Three non-executive directors at Australian financial services firm AMP have tendered their resignations from the board.
Vanessa Wallace and Holly Kramer will step down ahead of the annual general meeting on May 10, while Patricia Akopiantz (pictured left) will step down at the end of 2018.
Wallace is also resigning as chairman of AMP Capital Holdings, the parent company of AMP’s investment management arm, though a specific exit date has not been set. No replacement has been announced, an AMP spokeswoman said.
This follows last week's announcement of David Murray’s appointment as independent, non-executive chairman of the AMP board, effective on or before July 1. Wallace, Kramer, and Akopiantz’s resignations are in line with Murray’s stated objectives as incoming chairman to kickstart board renewal processes.
Chief executive Craig Meller stepped down last month after the Financial Services Royal Commission investigation into AMP found that the Australian firm had been charging customers fees without providing service, as well as providing inappropriate advice to customers.
No replacements have been announced for the three outbound directors, the spokeswoman said.
BARINGS HIRES MACROECONOMIC AND GEOPOLITICAL RESEARCH HEAD
US fund house Barings has appointed Christopher Smart as head of macroeconomic and geopolitical research.
Smart started his role on April 4, a Barings spokeswoman said. He oversees research into the impact of economic and political developments on financial markets.
The role is newly created, the spokeswoman said, as Barings did not have anyone overseeing macroeconomic and geopolitical research previously. Smart leads a team of three other researchers based in the US and the UK, she added.
Based in Boston, Smart reports to Tom Finke, chairman and chief executive of Barings, said the spokeswoman.
Prior to the appointment, Smart was a fellow at Harvard University’s Mossovar-Rahmani Centre for Business and Government, as well as the Harvard Institute of Politics.
UBS NAMES MARKET HEAD FOR MALAYSIA
Connie Ong will join UBS Wealth Management on July 2 as market head for Malaysia, the firm said in a statement.
Based in Singapore, she will report to August Hatecke, head of UBS Wealth Management for Southeast Asia.
Ong was most recently market head of Malaysia at Bank of Singapore, where she co-managed the bank's coverage of that market. Before that, she worked at Standard Chartered for nine years.
A spokeswoman for Bank of Singapore said Ong is currently serving her notice period but did not respond to queries on whether a replacement had been named. UBS did not respond to queries on who was market head before Ong took over.
JENERATION CAPITAL ANNOUNCES PARTNER AND CIO
Jason Tan has joined Jeneration Capital Management as a partner and chief investment officer.
He will run the Hong Kong-based firm along with two other partners Jimmy Chang and Tony Zhang. The CIO position is a new one for Jeneration Capital, which was founded in 2015 and manages $2 billion in assets.
Tan has been transitioning from his former role at Tiger Global Management to Jeneration Capital since October, helping to manage existing portfolio investments at Tiger Global while officially started full-time with Jeneration Capital recently.
AsianInvestor was unable to reach Tiger Capital Management for comment on his departure.
BARCLAYS POACHES APAC HEAD OF EQUITIES FROM CS
Barclays has appointed Matt Pecot as the head of equities for Asia Pacific.
Starting the Hong Kong-based role on May 7, Pecot is responsible for leading the equities franchise in Asia Pacific and reports to Stephen Dainton, London-based global head of equities.
A company spokeswoman declined to comment on whom he had replaced.
Pecot was previously the head of prime services and head of equities distribution for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse. Jonathan Jenkins, head of equity sales for Asia Pacific, oversees the sales and marketing functions of prime products after Pecot’s departure, a spokeswoman for Credit Suisse said.
UBS ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENTS IN KOWLOON TEAM
UBS has named Kenny Wai as country team head of Kowloon team 1, part of its Hong Kong team. Wai replaces Adeline Chien, who was promoted to regional market manager for Hong Kong in December 2017.
Wai joined UBS in 2012, then left the firm in 2017 to take some time off and rejoined the wealth manager this year, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
Chiu Wai Man has also joined from Hang Seng Private Bank and is named country team head for Kowloon team 2, also under the Hong Kong team. Another four people from Hang Seng have also joined Chiu in this team: Jonathan Yeung (desk head), Aubrey Cheung (client adviser), Connie Chan (client adviser) and Raymond Yung (client adviser).
Wai and Chiu report to Chien. All the appointments are effective May 7.
A UBS spokeswoman said the team 2 roles were new and represented an expansion of the Kowloon-focused teams.
Hang Seng Private Bank declined to comment on the departures.
CHARLES MONAT ANNOUNCES SINGAPORE CEO
Charles Monat Associates, the Singapore entity of Charles Monat Group, has appointed Martin Wong as Singapore chief executive officer and partner and shareholder in the Charles Monat group, subject to regulatory approval, effective November 5.
Wong will report to group CEO Yves Guélat, who is also the company's Singapore CEO. Wong will be responsible for managing the expansion of the business in Southeast Asia.
He joins from Jardine Lloyd Thompson Private Client Services where he worked since 2010 in various roles including general manager, deputy chief executive and chief executive officer for Singapore.
The company also announced a number of internal promotions including Ray Ang to chief sales officer, Nikki Koh to chief distribution Officer, Lee Eik Hong to sales operations leader, both Katherine Ho and Shawn Lim to sales team leaders.
Charles Monat is an insurance broker for high net worth individuals, which announced in 2017 it would buy out the global wealth solutions business of Willis Towers Watson.
Before the management buyout, Koh was executive director of channel management in Singapore; Lee was sales operations head while Ang, Ho and Lim were consultants/sales team leads in Singapore.
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Private Client Services did not respond to queries from AsianInvestor.
GOODWIN APPOINTS PRIVATE EQUITY SPECIALIST
Global law firm Goodwin has appointed Bosco Yiu as a Hong Kong-based partner in its private equity practice.
Yiu started his role on May 7. It is a new position as part of the expansion effort of the global private equity platform, according to a company spokesman.
The company declined to comment on his reporting line and who looked after the duties now taken up by Yiu before he came on board.
Yiu was previously an associate with law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton, which did not reply to AsianInvestor’s query about his departure.