Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 29
Pavan Gupte exits CVCI Private Equity
CVCI Private Equity’s chief strategy officer, Pavan Gupte, will leave the firm in December, say sources.
CVCI invests in medium-sized companies around the Asia-Pacific region. It was created as the proprietary investment arm of Citi but since 2005 it has been raising third-party funds. A Citi spokesman declined to comment on Gupte’s departure.
Investors in funds dislike changes in senior management in an industry that heavily relies on relationships to source deals.
Pavan joined CVCI in 2011 and is a member of its management committee. His next move could not be ascertained by press time.
He was previously a founding member of private equity and infrastructure firm Hermes GPE, where he was the head of its Asian business.
Prior to his involvement in private equity, Pavan worked at KBC Bank’s Indian business, where he led the building of its corporate credit business. Between 1995 and 1997, he was at Indian bank ICICI focusing on lending to greenfield and brownfield projects in Western India.
Rory Gallaher to retire, step down as Aima HK chair
The head of the financial services practice group at Deacons, Rory Gallaher, will retire at the end of the year, having been with the law firm since 1999, say sources. It is understood he will remain a part-time consultant to Deacons.
Earlier this month Gallaher also stepped down from his role as chairman of the Alternative Investment Managers Association’s (Aima) Hong Kong regulatory committee. Replacing him, as co-chairs, are Lee Kher Sheng, general counsel at hedge fund Azentus, and Katherine Abrat, executive director in Goldman Sachs’ prime broking unit.
Gallaher joined Deacons in Hong Kong as a partner in 1999, before which he served as partner at Wilde Sapte for five years in Hong Kong. Prior to that he worked for 13 years at Lawrance, Messer & Co and Turner Kenneth Brown in both London and Hong Kong.
He had served as co-chair of Aima Hong Kong with James Walker until the latter’s retirement at the end of 2010, and has since served as sole chair.
During his tenure, Aima says Rory has overseen a significant body of its regulatory advocacy, including the profits tax exemption for offshore funds, lobbying for domestic OEIC legislation, Hong Kong short-selling provisions and reporting requirements, responses to proposed amendments to the Professional Investor Rules both in 2009 and 2013, the initial planning of Hong Kong’s OTC clearing regime, as well as the 2014 proposed electronic trading regulation.
ING IM hires two EM debt managers
ING Investment Management International has appointed two to its emerging market debt team, following the departure of 19 EM debt staff to US asset manager Neuberger Berman earlier this year.
Alia Yousuf moves to ING IM as senior portfolio manager for local-currency EMD in Singapore. She has 13 years’ experience running EMD portfolios and joins from ACPI Investment in London, where she was head of EM debt.
Yousuf has also held fund management roles at Standard Asset Management and First State Investments. She started her career at the World Bank as a research analyst.
Marcin Adamczyk joins ING IM as senior portfolio manager for local-currency EMD, based in The Hague in the Netherlands. He joins from MN, a Dutch pension fund fiduciary manager, where he was senior fund manager for EM debt.
Marcin previously worked at Lombard Odier Investment Managers in Amsterdam and Geneva as a senior PM for EMD. Before that, he worked as an EM local markets trader at various banks across London and Warsaw.
Both report to Marcelo Assalin, lead portfolio manager for local-currency EMD based in Atlanta, US.
The duo joins a team of some 25 investment professionals across three regional centres, ING IM says – The Hague, Atlanta and Singapore.
Manulife AM promotes Chen, adds salesman
Manulife Asset Management has expanded James Chen’s role to international head of institutional business and relationship management, from Asia head of that business.
Based in Hong Kong, he is now responsible for the markets outside North America – notably Europe and the Middle East. He reports to Michael Dommermuth, president for international asset management based in Hong Kong.
Chen has been with Manulife AM for about two years, having joined from Vision Investment Management (Asia), where he spent 10 years as managing director. He was formerly an executive director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and sales director at Scudder Kemper Investments.
Manulife AM has also hired James Wheeler in the newly created role of head of institutional sales for Europe and the Middle East, reporting to Chen.
Wheeler spent the past nine years with Legal & General Investment Management in London. Prior to that he worked with International Financial Data Services and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
As at September 30, Manulife AM’s assets under management were $258 billion.
HK undersecretary for financial services resigns
Julia Leung Fung-yee, Hong Kong undersecretary for financial services and the treasury, tendered her resignation on November 27 citing personal reasons. She will be succeeded by James Henry Lau on January 1, the day Leung will formally leave.
Much of her work has involved working with the Chinese government on issues such as the Hong Kong-China closer economic partnership arrangement.
She has also been heavily involved in promoting the use of Hong Kong as a renminbi offshore trading centre, as well as the proposed Hong Kong-China funds mutual recognition agreement.
Leung joined the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in 1994, and had previously been a writer for the Wall Street Journal. She is quoted as saying she has no plans and will be taking a rest.
Lau was most recently CEO of the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation, a subsidiary of the HKMA’s exchange fund, but stepped down earlier this year.
Other people news on AsianInvestor.net this week:
BEA Union loses CIO, adds portfolio manager
Value Partners opening Singapore office
Rothschild on buildout in HK hub, eyes Singapore