Weekly roundup of people news, Sept 7
LINDSAY WRIGHT JOINS MATTHEWS ASIA
Matthews Asia has appointed Lindsay Wright as head of Asia and global chief operating officer after adding two offices in the region.
Wright took up the Hong Kong-based role on September 3 and reports to William Hackett, San Francisco-based chief executive of Matthews Asia.
The appointment came after Matthews Asia received approval from Chinese regulators to set up a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) in Shanghai in January this year. It also just opened a new office in Singapore. Including its existing office in Hong Kong, the US-based fund house now has three offices in Asia.
In this newly created role, Wright leads the firm’s Asia businesses, including Hong Kong, Singapore and China, a company spokesman said.
The WFOE now has two analysts and a deputy general manager, while Matthews Asia is also building the team in Singapore by relocating colleagues from the US, as well as hiring client-facing professionals, investment professionals and general office support, the company spokesman said.
In addition, Matthews Asia expects to make new distribution and marketing hires in Singapore and Hong Kong that will strengthen its ability to service clients in the region. The spokesman declined to be more specific about how many people it plans to hire.
Wright was previously the Asia-Pacific co-head and head of distribution at BNY Mellon Investment Management, a position she left in June.
The US firm does not have plans to replace her immediately, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor back then. Now overseeing the region is Matt Oomen, who was promoted to global head of distribution in October, along with Asia-Pacific co-head Doni Shamsuddin and Shogo Yamaguchi, chairman and president for Japan.
CITI HIRES TRIO FOR ETF TRADING, CUSTODY AND FUND SERVICES TEAMS
Citi has appointed Julie Kerr as Asia-Pacific head of custody and fund services in the bank’s prime, futures and securities services business, effective September 3.
Kerr will lead the overall business management and strategic direction of this unit, including the global custody and fund services. She replaces CK Yap, who has left the bank, a spokesman for Citi told AsianInvestor.
She joins from EY, where she was a partner in the financial services, wealth and asset management division for Asia Pacific.
At Citi, Kerr reports to David Russell, head of markets and securities services for Hong Kong, and globally to Sanjiv Sawhney, global head of custody and fund services.
A spokesman for EY said the process to appoint a successor for Kerr was under way.
In addition, Citi has appointed Antoine de Saint Vaulry as Asia Pacific head of its Delta One ETF trading, effective September 6.
He will report to Sebastien Mailleux, head of prime finance and Delta One for Apac, and wil focus on growing Citi’s ETF client trading capabilities in the region. He was previously with Commerzbank where he was most recently head of ETF and flow trading for Asia.
The group has also hired Pierre Thiriet for the Delta One team in Asia Pacific. He will report to Vaulry. He also joins from Commerzbank, where he was in the ETF market-making team.
A spokesman for Citi said both the roles were newly created to enhance Citi’s ETF capabilities in the region.
The Delta One service covers a range of products and services, including global portfolio trading, best execution consulting, ETF trading and swaps trading.
Commerzbank did not immediately respond to queries from AsianInvestor on replacements for the two departures.
MAN GROUP NAMES HEAD OF KOREA
Man Group, a London-based fund house, has hired Ethan Kang as managing director and head of Korea.
Kang started the new role on September 3. He is responsible for business development and strategy in the South Korean market but is based in Hong Kong. He reports to Hersh Gandhi, Sydney-based managing director for Asia-Pacific at Man Group.
His responsbilities were previously covered by executive director Ji Sang-hoon, who left Man Group in the second quarter of the year. AsianInvestor could not ascertain his next move.
Kang was previously the Seoul-based executive director and institutional sales at JP Morgan Asset Management, which is actively recruiting to replace him, a spokeswoman said.
DEUTSCHE BANK WM HIRES MD FOR SOUTH ASIA BUSINESS
Deutsche Bank Wealth Management has appointed Aditya Mishra as a managing director to lead its Global South Asia (GSA) team in the UK.
Mishra joined Deutsche Bank WM on September 6 and is based in London. He supports Deutsche Bank’s growth strategy of investing in the UK and markets in the Middle East and Asia. He reports functionally to Amrit Singh, Singapore-based head of wealth management coverage for GSA, and locally to Michael Morley, chief executive for Deutsche Bank’s UK banking unit.
This is a newly-created role to support expansion plans, a company spokeswoman said. She did not elaborate on who was responsible for the duties now taken up by Mishra.
Mishra joins the bank from Credit Suisse Private Banking, where he was London-based head of the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent or Non-resident Indian and Africa Team, his LinkedIn profile shows. Credit Suisse declined to comment on the departure.
LOMBARD ODIER HIRES SEN SUI
Swiss asset and wealth manager Lombard Odier has appointed Sen Sui as managing director with effect from September 3.
Based in Singapore, Sui will be responsible for managing key client relationships and further strengthening the banks’s client service proposition in Asia, it said in a media statement. Sui will join other MDs who work at Lombard Odier, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor, but she declined to say whether he replaced anyone.
He reports to Vincent Magnenat, limited partner and chief executive for Asia at Lombard Odier.
Sui joins from Credit Agricole Indosuez, where he was chief executive of Singapore and head of wealth management for Asia. Indosuez declined to comment in response to queries from AsianInvestor about Sui’s departure.
KKR HIRES MD IN JAPAN
New York-headquartered KKR has named Kazuyuki Kido as a Tokyo-based managing director.
The appointment took effect on September 4 and Kido reports to Hiro Hirano, Tokyo-based CEO for Japan. He works alongside members of the private equity and broader Japan team to generate new investment opportunities, a company spokeswoman said.
The role was a newly-created one that reinforces KKR’s long-term commitment to the Japanese market, she said, without specifying who was responsible for the duties now taken up by Kido before he came on board.
Kido's most recent role was at Simplex Holdings, where he was the head of the firm’s operations group, engaging management, leveraged and secondary buyout opportunities. Simplex did not immediately reply to AsianInvestor’s queries about his departure.
MKP CAPITAL OPENS SINGAPORE OFFICE, NAMES HEAD
Specialist asset manager MKP Capital Management has appointed Robert Ettinger to lead its new office in Singapore, its first in the region.
Ettinger, who is a portfolio manager, joined the US firm in May, according to his LinkedIn profile, and was previously at Graticule Asset Management in Singapore. AsianInvestor was unable to contact Graticule AM.
The Singapore office opened in August and will have two people, including Ettinger. MKP Capital did not say who the other individual was.
Based in the city state, Ettinger reports to MKP Capital found and chief investment officer Patrick McMahon.
The asset manager is targeting institutional investors, family offices, distribution platforms and consultants. From Singapore, it will focus on promoting its global macro strategies.
Globally, it operates discretionary global macro, credit, and fixed-income relative value strategies.
“We expect there to be more opportunities to invest across the entire Asia-Pacific region in the future, and it is important we have a local, on-the-ground presence to take advantage of those opportunities,” McMahon said in a statement to AsianInvestor.
REYL APPOINTS SINGAPORE CEO
Switzerland-based independent asset manager Reyl & Cie has appointed Antoine Denaiffe as chief executive of its Singapore unit.
Denaiffe takes over from Nicholas Duchene, who moved back to Reyl’s Geneva headquarters on July 31.
Denaiffe, based in Singapore since 2012, has been with Reyl since 2017, and is a corporate advisory and private equity specialist. He was previously deputy chief executive for Singapore, a Reyl spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Duchene joined Reyl in 2009 and took charge of the Asian operations in 2012 before becoming partner in 2015.
He will take on a more global operational and business development responsibilities, directly reporting to chief executive officer Francois Reyl.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor last week: