Weekly roundup of people news, May 8
FUTURE FUND NAMES ARNDT AS CEO, SEEKS NEW CIO
Australia’s Future Fund has promoted chief investment officer Raphael Arndt to chief executive with effect from July 1. Cameron Price will continue as acting CEO until then. The A$162 billion ($104.4 billion) sovereign wealth fund said it would start the process of appointing a new CIO in due course.
Arndt will replace David Neal, who left in February to become CEO of IFM Investors after nearly 13 years with Future Fund. Arndt joined the institution in 2008 and has been CIO since 2014.
AMUNDI SHIFTS VANESSA WANG TO HEAD US INSTO COVERAGE
French fund house Amundi is relocating Vanessa Wang, its head of North Asia institutional coverage, to become head of the US institutional group at Amundi Pioneer on June 1.
Her Asia responsibilities will primarily be taken up by Sally Choo, currently Singapore-based head of institutional sales for South Asia. Choo will become head of Amundi's institutional business for Asia ex-China and ex-Japan from June 1. She will have dual reporting lines to Xiaofeng Zhong, Amund's North Asia chief executive and Eric Bramoullé, CEO of South Asia.
In the US Wang will replace Joseph Carrabes, who is becoming a senior vice president in the new position of senior relationship manager and business development officer for the US institutional group, also effective June 1. In this new role he will report to Wang, who has been with Amundi since December 2016.
Wang told AsianInvestor that she was already working from Boston preparing for the handover and would continue to do so until officially starting in the role. She will report to Lisa Jones, Boston-based chief executive and head of Americas at Amundi Pioneer.
Wang declined to comment on the reason for her promotion over Carrabes. A spokesman referred AsianInvestor to a comment by Jones praising Wang's "deep knowledge of both the US institutional market and Amundi’s global institutional expertise". He declined to reveal how much institutional investor assets the firm manages in the US.
Wang had been the head of institutional coverage for North Asia since joining Amundi from Citi in December 2016.
AsianInvestor has just named Amundi as the Best Institutional Solutions Provider in its latest Asset Management Awards, for the second-year running.
CDIB CAPITAL SETS UP STRUCTURED CREDIT TEAM
Taiwan-headquartered CDIB Capital has hired credit specialists from private equity giant Carlyle to form its new structured credit group in Hong Kong.
Tor Trivers heads the team, which also includes Chen June-Yub and Sim Kyu-Jung as senior vice presidents. Trivers joined in February while the rest joined in March.
Based in Hong Kong, Trivers reports to Lionel de Saint-Expuréy, Hong Kong-based president of CDIB Capital International Corporation, while Chen and Sim report to Trivers.
At Carlyle, Trivers was managing director of Asia structured credit, while Chen and Sim were vice presidents.
Carlyle declined to comment on their departures.
FIFE CAPITAL NAMES ASIA HEAD OF PROPERTY INVESTMENT
Australian fund manager Fife Capital hired Pelham Higgins in Tokyo from property services firm JLL as head of real estate investment for Asia.
Joining the team this month, Higgins fills a role created as the firm continues capital raising for direct investment in Asia Pacific, said a spokeswoman. He will focus on deploying capital in select Asian markets, supporting the group’s Singapore and Sydney offices, she added.
He was JLL’s head of industrial and alternatives capital markets for Japan and Korea from July 2017 to March 2020. Before that he worked at Australian property developer Goodman Group, most recently as a fund manager from 2009 to 2014.
TIKEHAU CAPITAL HIRES NEW HEAD OF ASIA PACIFIC
French alternative asset manager Tikehau Capital has hired Neil Parekh from National Australia Bank into a new role as head of Asia, Australia and New Zealand with a view to expanding its regional business.
Parekh will start in Tikehau's Singapore office on July 1. In the newly created role he will report to Bruno de Pampelonne, chairman of Tikehau, and work alongside Jean-Baptiste Feat, co-head of Asia.
A spokeswoman for Tikehau did not respond to queries on how Parekh and Feat's responsibilities would be delineated.
Parekh was previously general manager for Asia at Australia's NAB, based in Singapore. A spokeswoman said that Cassandra Lister would be acting general manager for Asia in addition to her existing role as the head of NAB's Hong Kong branch while the bank undertook a recruitment process.
Tikehau has been gradually building its Asia Pacific presence, opening the Singapore office in 2014, then one in Seoul in 2017 and in Tokyo in 2018. It has over 16 people in the region.
ABERDEEN STANDARD APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR OF AUSSIE INSTO COVERAGE
Aberdeen Standard has hired Vishal Sharma from Bfinance as institutional director for Australia and New Zealand. He began in the role on May 4, replacing Kate Hillyar, who transferred to Aberdeen Standard’s UK offices last year.
Sharma reports jointly to Andrew Hendry, head of distribution for Asia Pacific, and Brett Jollie, managing director for Australia.
Sharma had previously worked at investment consultancy Bfinance for some three years.
A spokesperson for Bfinance did not reply to questions on how they intended to cover the role Sharma had vacated.
SINGALLIANCE NAMES ANGEL CHIA AS CEO OF NEW HK ARM
Singapore-based wealth manager SingAlliance has appointed Angel Chia as chief executive of its new Hong Kong arm as of the start of March.
Chia reports to SingAlliance chief executive Thierry Beck, managing partner Jolene Tan and the board of directors.
The new Hong Kong branch was granted regulatory approval and began operating in late April. It currently has three employees and will look to expand that to around eight by the end of the year, Beck said.
Chia joined from Chinese securities firm Shenwan Hongyuan, where she was assistant general manager of its Hong Kong arm, according to her Linkedin profile. The firm declined to comment on her departure.
HEMAN WONG TO ADVISE TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES
Heman Wong, who formerly oversaw investments at the Hong Kong Hospital Authority Provident Fund Scheme (HAPFS), has joined Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services as its Hong Kong-based consultant adviser.
Tata Consultancy Services did not respond to requests for further information on Wong's appointment or his area of coverage.
Wong worked at HAPFS for nine years until December 2016. He joined the Pension Schemes Association in Hong Kong as chief executive in March 2018, but quit four months later in July.
CLIFFORD CHANCE NAMES THREE NEW PARTNERS IN ASIA WITH INVESTMENT FOCUS
British law firm Clifford Chance has elected three new partners in Asia Pacific focused on investment funds or transactions, out of a total of five promotions to partner in the region and 26 globally.
Viola Lui works in the funds and investment management practice in Hong Kong, specialising in transactional private funds work, private wealth and financial regulatory advice. She joined the firm as a trainee in 2005.
Daryl Liu is a funds and investment management specialist in Singapore. His practice focuses on international fund mandates across private equity, real estate, infrastructure, credit and venture capital strategies. He joined the firm in March 2015.
Tom Lin works in Clifford Chance’s corporate practice in Singapore, specialising in M&A and corporate finance with a particular focus on private equity transactions. He joined the firm in 2017 and has been based in Singapore since 2011.
CHARLES LI TO LEAVE HKEX
Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), will not seek reappointment at the end of his current contract, in October 2021.
Li may leave his role earlier should a successor be appointed before that date. HKEx has formed a selection committee, led by chairwoman Laura Cha to conduct a formal search process, it said in a statement.