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Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 16

Schroders poaches Pictet exec for HK CEO role; DBS in senior management reshuffle; Fundnel opens office in Malaysia; UBP names Asia vice-chair, St. James's Place WM hires duo, and more.
Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 16

SCHRODERS APPOINTS HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Schroders has hired Amy Cho from Pictet Asset Management to be chief executive for its Hong Kong business.

Cho is currently the Hong Kong-based managing director and regional head for Asia Pacific ex-Japan at Pictet. She will officially leave Pictet at the end of November and join Schroders on December 3. A search for her replacement has begun, a spokeswoman for Pictet said.

At Schroders, Cho will report to Lieven Debruyne, Hong Kong-based chief executive for the Asia Pacific. In addition to the CEO position, she will receive a new role as Schroders' regional head of intermediary clients.

Cho is succeeding Chris Durack, Schroders' current CEO for Hong Kong and the head of its institutional business for Asia Pacific. Durack is returning to his home country of Australia in early 2019, where he will become Schroders' Sydney-based CEO for Australia, while continuing to oversee the institutional business across the Asia Pacific, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor. He will continue to report to Debruyne. 

Durack replaces Greg Cooper. Schroders announced in August that Cooper will step down at the end of the year. AsianInvestor could not ascertain his next move.

TAN SU SHAN TO TAKE ON NEW ROLE AFTER DBS RESHUFFLE

Singapore bank DBS has made a number of senior appointments to prepare for current group head of institutional banking Jeannette Wong’s retirement on March 1, 2019.

Tan Su Shan

Tan Su Shan has been tapped to replace Wong as DBS's group head of institutional banking. She will start in the new role on February 1.

As part of her new remit, Tan will be responsible for strengthening relations between DBS's consumer banking, private banking, and institutional banking businesses.

Tan is currently group head of consumer banking and wealth management. She will be replaced by DBS's Singapore country head Lim Sim, who takes over the role on January 1.

Lim Sim

He, in turn, will be replaced by She Tse Koon, DBS's group head of strategy and planning. She starts as Singapore country head on December 1.

All three executives are based in Singapore, and will report to group chief executive Piyush Gupta, a DBS spokesman said.

DBS did not respond to AsianInvestor queries on whether a replacement had been announced for the group head of strategy and planning role.

FUNDNEL EXPANDS OPERATIONS TO MALAYSIA

Singapore private investment platform Fundnel has opened a Malaysia office in Kuala Lumpur.

Fundnel offers unlisted securities in growth and pre-IPO (initial public offering) stage companies to private equity investors, venture capital funds, family offices, corporate ventures, angel investor networks, and individually accredited investors.

Malaysia is the latest destination where it has opened an office. It has already established offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, India, and Australia.

The Malaysia office officially opened on October 29. It consists of a five-person team that is led by co-founder and chief financial officer Sng Khai Lin, said a Fundnel spokeswoman. Its opening followed Fundnel’s appointment as a recognised market operator by the Securities Commission Malaysia.

Fundnel Malaysia will provide capital raising services for local unlisted growth companies, with an emphasis on the use of data and technology to connect businesses with capital.

UBP NAMES VICE CHAIR FOR ASIA

UBP has appointed BNP Paribas' former China head of wealth management Alfred Tsai as Hong Kong-based vice chair for Asia.

At his new employer, Tsai is responsible for developing new client relationships and driving new business growth. He reports locally to Eric Morin, UBP's head of North Asia and CEO for Hong Kong, and regionally to Michael Blake, the Singapore-based CEO for private banking Asia, according to a UBP spokeswoman.

Tsai was previously a managing director and the head of wealth management for China at BNP Paribas. He left the position this month, according to his LinkedIn profile. BNP Paribas declined to comment on his departure.

UBP has reportedly hired a group of about 15 private bankers, including Tsai, from BNP Paribas as it steps up its expansion in Asia. Most of the former BNP bankers are based in Hong Kong, with the remainder in Singapore, Bloomberg reported on November 13, citing unnamed sources.

Both UBP and BNP Paribas declined to comment on the reported staff movement.

ST. JAMES’S PLACE WEALTH MANAGEMENT HIRES DUO

St. James’s Place Wealth Management Asia has hired Justin Davies and Sheila Dickson from The Fry Group.

Both joined this month as managing partners of a practice within the UK-based wealth manager’s business, which is called Select Investors Hong Kong. The roles are newly created and are part of St James's Place's efforts to target more affluent and high net worth clients in Asia, said a spokeswoman.

Based in Hong Kong, both were previously senior wealth managers at The Fry Group, which declined to comment on the departures. The Fry Group is a tax, wealth and estate planning firm aimed at British expatriates.

JULIUS BAER MD DIES AFTER MEDICAL PROCEDURE

Zoe Cheung, a managing director and senior relationship manager at Julius Baer, died on November 12 after getting Botox injections.

“We have sent our deepest condolences to her family,” a company spokeswoman told AsianInvestor, without commenting further.

Other people news reported by AsianInvestor last week:

Sun Life loses ALM head to Aberdeen Standard

 

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