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Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 27

AustralianSuper hires property head in London amid buildout; Cbus appoints first chief IT officer; Pictet opens Shanghai WFOE, names head; AMP Capital appoints Rebekah Swan as NZ head of clients; Milford AM names sustainable investment head, senior analyst; VC firm QED hires India/SE Asia head; and more.
Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 27

AUSTRALIANSUPER APPOINTS PROPERTY HEAD IN LONDON AMID EXPANSION

AustralianSuper has added Paul Clark, previously chief investment officer at The Crown Estate, the real estate portfolio for the British royal family, in a new role to its London team as senior investment director of property as part of a rapid buildout there. He will oversee the fund’s real estate investment activities in the UK and Europe.

In addition, AustralianSuper's global head of equities Innes McKeand has relocated to London from Melbourne to become the second member of the investment leadership team there, the Australian pension fund said in a statement.

McKeand will keep his title and join Damian Moloney, who has been head of international investments in London for two years.

This is part of Australia's biggest superannuation fund's strategic plan to ramp up its overseas and in-house investment capabilities. The London investment team currently has 30 people and AustralianSuper plans to expand it to 50 within the next two years across a variety of asset classes, a spokesman told AsianInvestor. 

Following Mckeand’s move to London, Justin Pascoe has been promoted to deputy head of equities in Melbourne from senior portfolio manager of equity strategy and portfolio construction and will take on day-to-day leadership in Australia. Mckeand will continue to provide advice on the fund’s A$100 billion ($73.6 billion) equities portfolio.

Other London additions this year include Philippe Lenoble in March as senior investment director of infrastructure in London from Goldman Sachs and Mikaël Limpalaër as investment director for real estate and infrastructure debt in January from fund manager Aeriance.

CBUS HIRES FIRST CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER 

Mirella Robinson
Mirella Robinson

Melbourne-based Cbus Super has appointed Mirella Robinsons as its first chief information technology officer, effective from mid-January 2021 and reporting to chief executive Justin Arter.

The role was created “as the fund continues to maximise strategic insight and capability”, according to a statement released on November 20. 

She was previously the general manager of delivery, data analytics and technology at Latitude Financial Services in Melbourne, leading a team of 120 covering Asia Pacific markets.

Her past roles include technology positions at ANZ Bank, Origin Energy and Axa Australia.

PICTET AM OPENS SHANGHAI WFOE, NAMES HEAD

Penny Chen

Pictet Asset Management opened a wholly foreign-owned enterprise in Shanghai on November 2 and has appointed Penny Chen as general manager of the unit as of November 4. 

Chen was previously a Beijing-based executive director at JP Morgan as an investment adviser on global liquidity products for North China. Previously, he worked for Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

Initially, the Shanghai office will comprise a small team of compliance and client service staff, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.

Chen reports to Junjie Watkins, Hong Kong-based chief executive for Asia ex-Japan at Pictet AM, the spokeswoman said.

CHINA EVERBRIGHT REPLACES DEPUTY GM

Wang Yi

Wang Yi, the former head of the Chinese ministry of finance's finance department, has joined state-backed asset management and banking firm China Everbright Group as deputy general manager, according to Caixin Global. 

China Everbright's website indicates that Wang sits on the firm's Communist Party committee.

He replaces Cai Yungo, who joined Bank of Communications as supervisory board chairman in September, according to a Bank of Communications press release.

China Everbright did not respond to emailed queries.

Wang has also worked with the statistics department at the People's Bank of China and as deputy mayor for the Chinese city of Wenzhou.

AMP CAPITAL APPOINTS NEW NZ HEAD OF CLIENTS

AMP Capital appoints Rebekah Swan
Rebekah Swan
 

Rebekah Swan has taken up the role as head of clients for New Zealand at Australian asset manager AMP Capital, based in Wellington. 

She was previously head of product and ESG investment specialist for the New Zealand business, and replaces Bevan Graham, who is stepping down after nine years with the business.

Swan has been with AMP Capital for 19 years, starting out as a business analyst in the finance team.

With the new role, she will join the New Zealand board of AMP Capital and report to Grant Hassell as New Zealand chair of AMP Capital. Prevoiusly Swan had reported to Graham.

MILFORD AM APPOINTS SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT HEAD, SENIOR ANALYST

New Zealand's Milford Asset Management has appointed Marissa Rossi as head of sustainable investments and Jason Kururangi as senior analyst in the Australian equities team. 

Rossi joined the company in July last year as a senior analyst from UBS Asset Management, where she had led research and portfolio management for the firm’s sustainable Australian equities strategy.

Kururangi was previously a Sydney-based analyst and fund manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments for eight years. He will leave the firm in February next year and his duties will be taken up by members of the Australian equities team, said an Aberdeen Standard spokeswoman. Milford did not respond to requests for further detail on who Rossi or Kururangi replaced.

VC FIRM QED INVESTORS HIRES INDIA, SE ASIA HEAD

QED Investors, a US-based venture capital firm, has entered the Indian and Southeast Asian market by hiring Sandeep Patil this month to lead investments for that region.

Sandeep Patil

With the London-based appointment, QED will expand its global footprint beyond the Americas and the UK. Patil reports to head of international Bill Cilluffo.

Patil was previously India chief executive at smartphone app Truecaller. He also worked at Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart, where he helped launch the consumer and SME lending business and contributed to the company’s fundraise and eventual sale to Walmart, said QED in a release.

Patil has also worked for consultancy McKinsey and for the US’s Capital One Finance Corp.

Founded in 2007, QED has $1.8 billion under management and is focused on disruptive financial services companies.

VONTOBEL AM ADDS RM IN HK

Mavis Huang

Vontobel Asset Management has hired Mavis Huang as a relationship manager in Hong Kong from DWS Investments, where she held the same title.

The role is a newly created one that demonstrates the firm’s commitment to the region, a company spokesman said, but he declined to specify how Huang's coverage was looked after previously.

She started at the Swiss firm on November 2 and reports to Benny Gay, Singapore-based head of intermediary clients for Asia.

DWS declined to comment on her departure.

Other news reported by AsianInvestor in the past week: 

Nuveen to open in Korea and Dubai, expand in China 

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