New Barings launches, Gerry Ng remains head of Asia

Babson Capital Management and subsidiaries Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers and Wood Creek Capital Management completed their unification with Baring Asset Management. The four units now operate as a unified company under the Barings name.

The US-headquartered Babson announced that the newly created organisation would have dedicated leadership in each major area. Russ Morrison (formerly head of Babson’s global high yield investment) will serve as the combined firm’s president and lead global fixed income, equity and multi-asset strategies. Scott Brown (formerly president of Cornerstone) will lead global real estate, while Anthony Sciacca (formerly managing director at Babson) will lead global alternative investments and private equity.

In Asia Pacific ex-Japan, the merged entity will be led by Gerry Ng (Barings' former Asia Pacific ex Japan CEO) while Hiromi Wada (previously Barings' Japan president) will lead Japan operations.

A Hong Kong-based spokesperson said of the change:  “With any integration of this kind there will be a process in terms of bringing the businesses together, but each team reports up into its respective investment head (e.g. Morrison for global fixed income, equity and multi-asset strategies) and is currently working closely to establish the right platform.”

As such, Wilfred Sit, the chief investment officer (CIO) of Barings Asia, and Khiem Do, head of Asian multi-asset, now report to Morrison.

Babson has offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Australia. The spokesperson was unable to tell AsianInvestor whether any personnel had left because of the merger.

It was previously announced that the new Barings would be headed by Tom Finke, former chairman and chief executive at Babson, and would be headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. David Brennan, chairman and CEO of Barings globally, retired this summer.

The combined company, owned by US insurer Massachussetts Mutual Life Insurance, has more than $275 billion in client assets under management.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank hires former KIC CIO

Dong-Ik Lee, former chief investment officer for sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corp and an adviser to Singapore state investment firm Termasek, joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as operational adviser for private-sector investment.

A spokesperson at AIIB in Beijing confirmed the appointment but declined further comments.

It is understood Lee is taking up a newly created role and will likely be based in Beijing. It was not clear when the appointment would take effect, nor who he would report to. When AsianInvestor called AIIB, Lee hadn't started work yet.

Lee served as KIC CIO from April 2012 to December 2013 before becoming a senior adviser to KIC until March 2014. He was responsible for managing KIC’s US$72 billion portfolio globally. He joined KIC in 2008 as the head of private markets group when KIC expanded its strategy to include alternative investments.

Lee left KIC in 2014 as reported and became an adviser to Temasek. He was reported to have been shortlisted for the CIO role at the $450 billion National Pension Service in January.

JO Hambro makes ex-Barings CIO its new chief executive

Active equity boutique manager JO Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM), owned by Australian-listed fund management group BT Investment Management Limited (BTIM), shifted group chief executive officer (CEO) Gavin Rochussen to become a group executive for international at BTIM. 

In the newly-created role, Rochussen will be responsible for implementing BTIM's growth strategy outside Australia, with a focus on growing the JOHCM business in the US and Asia, in particular identifying new investment teams. He will continue to report to BTIM group CEO Emilio Gonzalez and remain based in JOHCM's head office in London.

Ken Lambden was appointed to replace Rochussen as group CEO of JOHCM.  He was most recently the CIO of Baring Asset Management. Barings has been merged with US manager Babson Capital Management and its subsidiaries Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers and Wood Creek Capital Management (see above).

Lambden's LinkedIn profile said he was the CIO of Barings Asset Management from September 2014 to May 2016, based in London, and started his new role at JOCHM in September this year.

To ensure a smooth transition, Lambden will initially report to Rochussen, after which he will report to Gonzalez.

Lambden has over 30 years of investment experience across a number of asset management businesses in London and Australia. He was formerly global head of equities at Schroders for 10 years, where he led equity teams in UK, Europe, North and South America and Asia.

BNY Mellon appoints new Asia-Pacific chairman 

BNY Mellon is shifting David Cruikshank to become its Asia-Pacific chairman from the beginning of next year.

He currently leads the firm's corporates and public finance market segment team within the global client management (GCM) group, based in New York.

Cruikshank will relocate to Hong Kong, where he will chair the Asia-Pacific Executive Committee and lead the regional management team in executing the company’s business strategy for the Asia-Pacific region.

Working closely with BNY Mellon's global business heads, he will serve as the company's primary representative with the local regulatory authorities and oversee client management for the region. He will report to Karen Peetz, president of BNY Mellon, according to the company's  statement. 

Cruikshank will succeed Stephen Lackey as Asia-Pacific chairman. Lackey will start a new role as vice-chairman of BNY Mellon's Pennsylvania region in addition to a new strategic client management role within GCM group in January next year, based in Pittsburgh. Lackey has been Asia-Pacific chairman since 2011, based in Hong Kong.

BNY Mellon said that as Cruikshank transitions to his new role in Asia, the group's corporates and public finance team will report to Jean Wynn, chief administrative officer for Peetz, based in New York.

Cruikshank, who has over 25 years of financial services experience, joined BNY Mellon in 2003. He has previously served as CEO of treasury services at BNY Mellon, setting the strategic direction and leading business execution for the company’s global payments, trade finance and cash management business.

BNPP IP appoints new global sales head

French asset manager BNP Paribas Investment Partners appointed James Dilworth to the newly-created role of global head of sales, effective September 12.

Based in London, Dilworth reports to chief executive Frédéric Janbons. Prior to Dilworth's appointment there was no single individual with overall responsibility for sales globally across all client segments.

BNPP IP focuses on three client segments – institutional, internal networks and external distribution – and the head of sales for each remains in place, the company said. Dilworth has been appointed to further develop and strengthen BNPP IP sales across all channels, the company said.

Dilworth was formerly the CEO and global head of active strategy at Deutsche Asset and Weallth Management. He left in February this year after Deutsche split its asset management and wealth management into two separate units in January.

Following the split, Deutsche Asset Management became a standalone division while Deutsche Bank Wealth Management became an independent unit of the bank's private and business clients division.

The global head of active strategy role vacated by Dilworth was filled in by Stefan Kreuzkamp, who also continues to be Deutsche Asset Management's CIO.

The chief executive officer role at Deutsche Asset Management has undergone changes following Dilworth's departure.

Quintin Price, a former BlackRock executive, was appointed CEO in January. He left the position in June for health reason and Jon Eilbeck, Deutsche Asset Management's global chief operating officer and Asia-Pacific head, was named acting CEO until Nicolas Moreau, former chief executive of AXA Investment Managers, joins on October 1.

At BNPP IP's wealth management unit, Fabrizio Campelli, former head of group strategy at Deutsche Bank, took over as global head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management from October 2015. 

Robeco Institutional AM names new CEO and chairman 

Robeco Institutional Asset Management appointed Gilbert Van Hassel as chief executive and chairman, effective September 19.

Based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Hassel succeeds Leni Boeren, who will leave the company after the handover is completed. AsianInvestor was unable to ascertain Boeren's next move.

Gilbert Van Hassel has three decades of experience in the financial services industry, mainly in asset and wealth management. Until 2013 he was global CEO at ING Investment Management. Before joining ING in 2007 he worked at JP Morgan in various executive roles in Europe, Asia and the US.

ING Investment Management changed its name into NN Investment Partners in April 2015 after being bought by the NN Group. Stan Beckers has been NNIP's CEO since 2013.

Fidelity hires global consultant relations head

Fidelity International hired Juliet Bullick as its global head of consultant relations, effective September 6.

Based in London, Bullick reports to Chuck McKenzie, Fidelity's global head of institutional.

This is a new role which recognises the continued importance of consultants as advisors to institutional clients, the company said.

Most recently, Bullick was head of inclusion and diversity for Europe, Middle East and Africa at BlackRock until February 2015. Since then, BlackRock has moved to a global model and Bullick's responsibilities have been taken up by managing director Jonathan Mcbride.

Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:

Schroders constructs Asian real estate investment team