HOSTPLUS NAMES DEPUTY CIO

Melbourne-based superannuation fund Hostplus promoted Greg Clerk to deputy chief investment officer from head of investment strategy in October.

Greg Clerk

Clerk reports to chief investment officer Sam Sicilia and works with him on developing the pension fund's investment strategy, portfolio construction, asset allocation and other investment-related decisions.

All the heads of asset classes will also switch their direct reporting lines from Sicilia to Clerk, a media statement said.

Clerk will continue to cover his former responsibilities in his new role, a spokeswoman said.

KKR HIRES APAC INFRA HEAD

US private equity firm has made to senior hires to its infrastructure team in Asia.

David Luboff will join in Singapore as head of Asia-Pacific infrastructure in early 2019, AsianInvestor understands.

Luboff is chief executive of the Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Funds. Macquarie did not respond to AsianInvestor queries on when Luboff is leaving and who would replace him. 

Hardik Shah has also recently joined KKR’s Infra team as a director based in Mumbai, AsianInvestor understands. He joins from real asset specialist Brookfield Asset Management, which did not respond to an emailed query from AsianInvestor.

KKR declined to officially comment on the new hires. 

BNP PARIBAS' ASIA SALES HEAD FOR WM TO LEAVE

Stephane Honig, Asia-Pacific head of sales for wealth management and family offices within the global markets division and head of strategic equity solutions, at BNP Paribas, is set to leave the firm, AsianInvestor can confirm. 

Stephane Honig

He has been with the French bank for some 18 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

He led the global markets sales teams, which covered private banks in the Asia Pacific across all asset classes, as well as the strategic equity solutions business across various client segments.

A well-placed source said Honig had tendered his resignation, but AsianInvestor could not ascertain his next move.

BNP Paribas declined to confirm his departure or provide any further details.

IMCO HIRES MUSICCO AS PRIVATE MARKETS HEAD

The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (Imco), a Canadian public pension fund manager set up in 2016, has hired the former Asia head of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to run its private markets division.

Nicole Musicco had overseen Ontario Teachers in Asia out of Hong Kong for two years before returning to Toronto to head the public equities team, her most recent position.

She will take up her newly created role at Imco as senior managing director of private markets on January 7, based in Toronto and reporting to chief investment officer Jean Michel.

Musicco has spent some 16 years with Ontario Teachers. During that time she has overseen externally managed private equity and venture capital fund positions, as well as emerging market co-investment and underwriting activities, said Imco in a statement.

Imco manages C$61.6 billion ($46.7 billion) on behalf of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and the Ontario Pension Board. It only started managing the two organisations’ assets in July last year.

ALLIANZGI HIRES PINAKIN PATEL

Allianz Global Investors hired Pinakin Patel in September as a product specialist in Hong Kong focusing on Asian equities. The role is a newly created one to facilitate expansion of the Asia business, said a spokeswoman for the German fund house. 

Patel had left JP Morgan AM in June, where he had been a client portfolio manager for EM and Asia-Pacific equities based in Hong Kong. He will not be directly replaced, said a JP Morgan spokeswoman at the time.

GENERALI REPLACES MALAYSIA CEO

Generali Asia has appointed KG Krishnamoorthy Rao as chief executive of MPI Generali, the Malaysian unit of the Italian insurer, effective November 19.

Rao was previously CEO of Future Generali India Insurance Company, a joint venture between India’s Future Group and Generali.

KM Rao

He replaces Oliver Tan who has left Generali to pursue new opportunities, a media statement said.

Shreeraj Deshpande has been appointed interim head at Future Generali, in addition to his current responsibilities as head of operations, customer service and health insurance.

Rao is an industry veteran with 30 years of experience, having previously worked with Bajaj Allianz, Dhabol Power Company, Tata AIG Risk Management Services and National Insurance.

Other people moves reported by AsianInvestor last week:

Axa Rosenberg Asia CIO exits to Invesco Great Wall