Weekly roundup of people news, Sept 28
MATTHEWS ASIA HIRES NEW ASIA SALES HEAD
Matthews Asia, a Californian asset manager, will see its long-standing head of Asia business development, James Campion, move on at the end of 2018 after handing responsibilities to a new appointee.
Wong Hur-ming will join to replace Campion from rival fund house Janus Henderson Investors (JHI), where his last working day will be October 11. He was head of wholesale distribution for Southeast Asia and global financial institutions for Asia at JHI.
The hire follows that of Lindsay Wright, who has just started at Matthews Asia as regional head and global chief operating officer, and the opening of offices in Shanghai and Singapore.
The firm, which has $33 billion under management, is also seeking a China head, after receiving a wholly foreign-owned enterprise licence to set up a mainland business earlier this year.
Before joining JHI, Wong served as deputy head of intermediary sales for Southeast Asia at Deutsche Asset Management (now DWS Investments) since 2005.
Janus Henderson, formed by the merger of Henderson Global Investors and Janus Capital in 2016, is seeking a replacement for Wong, a company spokeswoman told AsianInvestor by email.
PRINCIPAL GLOBAL INVESTORS TO SET UP ASIA FIXED INCOME TEAM
Principal Global Investors (PGI) says it is developing an Asia fixed income team and expanding its capabilities in emerging market debt to support investors across the region and globally.
Howe Chung Wan has been appointed as head of Asian fixed income, PGI said in a statement. He will best based in Singapore and report to US-based David Blake, head of fixed income and chief investment officer, starting October 1.
Wan was previously head of Asia fixed income at Amundi Asset Management in Singapore.
The new team is expected to serve PGI’s client base in the region, including central banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and insurance companies, in close collaboration with joint venture partners, according to the statement.
PGI declined to provide further details to AsianInvestor on the team size, who the other members are and where they would be based.
Amundi declined to comment on Wan’s departure and whether a replacement had been named.
HSBC PRIVATE BANKING MAKES FIVE PRODUCT TEAM HIRES
HSBC Private Banking has made five hires to its investment services and product solutions group team in Asia Pacific. All the appointments took effect on September 27, and some of them are replacement hires but the bank declined to give more details.
Virginia Devereux Wong has been appointed Asia head of funds and ETFs for HSBC Private Banking. She was most recently head of the Asia wholesale business at Standard Life Investments, but left in January 2018.
Adam Lau has been appointed Asia head of equities and structured products. He joins from Natixis, where he was head of Greater China for equity solutions sales, responsible for marketing equity, fund and hybrid derivatives to institutional investors. Natixis declined to comment on Lau’s departure.
Jeffrey Yap has been named Asia head of fixed income, currencies and commodities. He retains his previous role as regional head of fixed income at HSBC Private Bank and the new appointment expands his role to lead the fixed income, foreign exchange and commodity specialists in the region.
Michael Chow has been appointed Asia head of advisory and sales management, and joins from UBS, where he was Asia-Pacific head of sales strategy. UBS did not respond to queries about Chow’s departure.
Yahong Wu has been appointed ultra-high net worth solutions specialist. He joins from China International Capital Corporation, where he was an executive director with the investment banking division. CICC did not respond to AsianInvestor queries on Wu’s departure or whether a replacement has been announced.
All of the new hires are based in Hong Kong and report to co-heads of the investment services and product solutions group, Abdel Tkhavet and Jackie Mau, an HSBC spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
BNP PARIBAS WM HIRES ASIA HEAD OF WEALTH PLANNING SERVICES
BNP Paribas Wealth Management has hired Teddy Chu as Hong Kong-based head of wealth planning services for Asia.
Chu joined in mid-September and reports to Garth Bregman, Singapore-based head of investment services for Asia Pacific. He has replaced Berry Wong, who left the company last year, AsianInvestor understands.
Prior to joining BNP Paribas Wealth Management, Chu was Hong Kong-based head of wealth planning for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered Bank, a position he left in May, a StanChart spokeswoman said.
She did not comment on whether Standard Chartered would be replacing Chu.
FIDELITY’S VC ARM OPENS OFFICE IN SINGAPORE
Eight Roads, the proprietary investment arm of Fidelity International, has opened a new office in Singapore.
The two-strong office was opened in September and is led by Raj Dugar, managing partner for Asia. Dugar relocated to Singapore from India and leads the combined India and Southeast Asia operations. His job title remained unchanged after the expansion in job remits.
The other staff member in the office is senior associate Prakhar Singh, who joined Eight Roads from consultant McKinsey & Co. in Indonesia, where he worked as an engagement manager.
A company spokeswoman declined to comment on when Singh joined the company and whether it had plans to hire more people for the office.
Besides Singapore, Eight Roads also has footprints in China, Hong Kong, Japan and India.
COLONIAL FIRST STATE GAM CEO STEPS DOWN
Mark Lazberger has decided to step down as chief executive of Australian fund house Colonial First State Global Asset Management after 10 years in the role.
Sydney-based Lazberger announced his decision on September 20, and his last official day will be December 17, a CFSGAM spokeswoman said.
Mark Steinberg, Sydney-based chief operation officer, will be acting chief executive while CFSGAM searches for a permanent CEO.
Lazberger's departure follows Commonwealth Bank of Australia's June announcement that it would demerge its CFSGAM, Colonial First State, Count Financial, Financial Wisdom, and Aussie Home Loans businesses and combine them to create independent wealth manager CFS Group. The bank expects the demerger to be completed in 2019, subject to final CBA board, shareholder, and regulatory approvals.
COLLIERS HIRES VALUATION AND ADVISORY SERVICES EXECUTIVE
Colliers International, a Canada-based commercial real estate services firm, has appointed Melissa Lee as a Singapore-based associate director in its valuation and advisory services (CIVAS) team in Asia.
Lee joined the company on September 3 and reports to Govinda Singh, executive director of valuation and advisory services for Asia, also based in Singapore. Lee initially focuses on Malaysia in her new role.
It is a newly created role as part of the expansion into the Malaysian market, a company spokeswoman said. The duties now taken up by Lee were sub-contracted to third parties, she added.
Lee was most recently an associate partner at Malaysia-based surveyor Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partner, where she led a wide range of valuation and consulting engagements.
Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partner did not reply to AsianInvestor’s queries about her departure.
LCH APPOINTS APAC HEAD
UK clearing house LCH has named Kate Birchall as head of Asia Pacific.
Starting October 15, Birchall will be responsible for LCH’s business in Asia-Pacific, including its central counterparty (CCP) business’s over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives clearing operations in Sydney and Tokyo, as well as supporting LCH’s expansion in the region.
Birchall will be based in Sydney, and will report to LCH Ltd chief executive Martin Pluves. She replaces Marcus Robinson, who is now LCH's head of group business development in London.
Birchall was most recently head of portfolio optimisation and collateral at National Australia Bank. NAB did not respond to AsianInvestor queries on her exit date and whether a replacement had been named yet.