Weekly roundup of people news, Oct 4
HINES NAMES NEW CIOs
Real estate firm Hines has appointed Lee Timmins in a new role as chief investment officer for Asia, effective October 1.
As part of his role, Timmins will establish a new investment office in Asia in an as yet uncofirmed location, the firm’s spokesman told AsianInvestor. It currently has offices in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing.
Timmins was previously the chief executive of Hines’s business in Eurasia, based in Moscow. He continues to report to David Steinbach, global CIO, and Chris Hughes, chief executive of capital markets. Both Steinbach and Hughes are based in the firm’s US headquarters in Houston.
Hines intends to fill Timmins' former position, but he will undertake both roles during the recruitment process, said the spokesman.
Hines also appointed Alfonso Munk and Alex Knapp as CIOs for the Americas and Europe, respectively, effective October 1. Munk is based in New York while Knapp is based in London. They also report to Steinbach and Hughes.
EASTSPRING EXPECTS NO STAFF CUTS AFTER ACQUISTION IN THAILAND
Eastspring Investments, the Asian asset management business of Prudential, has signed an agreement on August 8 to acquire 50.1% of Thanachart Fund Management (Tfund) from Thanachart Bank and Government Savings Bank.
The Singapore-headquartered fund house declined to comment on whether there will be any change in Tfund’s management after the acquisition is completed, saying that the deal is still pending regulatory approval.
However, a spokeswoman said Eastspring “does not anticipate staff redundancies at this time”, as the fund house “runs Asia from Asia” and has a proven track record of operating in local markets with local teams.
The consideration for the 50.1% stake in Tfund is THB4.21 billion ($138.17 million). Tfund is the eighth largest mutual fund manager in Thailand, with THB212 billion of mutual funds under management.
AMUNDI AM APPOINTS BIZ DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION ROLES
Amundi Asset Management has appointed Albert Tse and Marie-Pascale Bonhomme as head of distribution sales and marketing for South Asia, and head of business development and partnership for North Asia, respectively, effective October 1.
Based in Singapore, Tse reports to Eric Bramoulle, chief executive for South Asia. He is based in Singapore. Tse is responsible for developing relationships with intermediary and retail clients in the region, as well as overseeing marketing activities and product development.
Tse joined from Schroders as head of intermediary business for Southeast Asia. He left his previous firm on August 28, a Schroders spokesman told AsianInvestor. His role has not been replaced, and his former duties are being managed by executives based in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
He has replaced Bonhomme, who has relocated from Singapore to Beijing to take up the new role. Bonhomme has joined the firm’s team in China, responsible for strengthening joint venture relationships and developing new partnerships with wealth management entities in the country.
Bonhomme reports to Zhong Xiaofeng, chief executive for North Asia. The spokesman did not immediately reply to AsianInvestor's query about her predecessor.
KKR APPOINTS DIRECTOR FOR GLOBAL IMPACT BIZ
KKR has appointed Sharon Yang as the Hong Kong-based director for global impact investment in Asia.
Her new role was effective on October 2 and she focuses on regional sourcing, investment and portfolio activities. She reports to Ken Mehlman and Robert Antablin, who are New York-based co-heads of the global impact team.
This is a newly created role. KKR launched global impact as a new and emerging strategy in 2018. Yang is helping to develop and build it out in the Asia-Pacific region, a company spokeswoman said.
Yang was previously the Hong Kong-based director in the client partner group, and her responsibilities include portfolio and capital markets activities across private equity, growth equity and real estate in Asia.
There will not be a direct replacement for Yang's former role; her duties will be shared by other members in the client partner group, the spokeswoman said.
MSCI APPOINTS APAC HEAD OF INDEX PRODUCTS
MSCI has appointed Doug Walls as its Asia Pacific head of index products.
Walls took up the Hong Kong-based role on September 23 and reports to Diana Tidd, New York-based global head of index. He collaborates closely with Jack Lin, head of Apac client coverage.
Walls previously served as the Hong Kong-based head of product development and management for Asia Pacific at Fidelity, which confirmed his departure but declined to tell whether it is finding his replacement.
At MSCI, Walls replaced Ted Niggli, who moves to a newly created global role within the company as head of OneMSCI commercial programs, effective also on September 23.
Niggli continues to be based in Shanghai, where he oversees functions to create integrated client focused solutions and partnerships across MSCI. He reports to Baer Pettit, London-based president of MSCI.
Niggli’s role and responsibilities are entirely new and have grown out of the continuing evolution of the business and client needs, a company spokesman said.
STANCHART PB APPOINTS HEAD FOR ASEAN & SOUTH ASIA
Standard Chartered's private banking arm has appointed Cedric Lizin as the regional head for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and South Asia, subject to regulatory approval.
Lizin is expected to join the bank on December 9 and will be based in Singapore. He will report to Didier von Daeniken, Stanchart's Singapore-based global head for private banking and wealth management.
He replaces Srinivas Siripurapu, currently regional head for Asean and South Asia, and global head for global South Asia community.
Siripurapu is leaving the bank to spend time with his family in India and his last day will be on 8 October, according to a press release. A spokeswoman declined to tell who will succeed him in his capacity of global head for global South Asia community.
Andrew Ho, managing director and market head for South and Southeast Asia, will take on interim responsibilities for the private banking business in the region until Lizin joins later this year.
Lizin joins from UBS, where he was most recently head of wealth management and senior executive officer for Dubai. UBS declined to comment on his departure.
HSBC PB RM EXITS
Salman Hamid, a relationship manager of HSBC Private Bank, has left the firm.
A spokeswoman confirmed his departure, and told AsianInvestor that he was based in Singapore for the role. The bank declined to comment on whether his position will be replaced.
Hamid joined the bank in May 2013, according to his Linkedin. His latest status also indicated that he recently joined Julius Baer as director in October. Julius Baer declined to comment on Hamid’s appointment.