Weekly roundup of people news, July 18
Amundi names Japan CIO
Yasunori Iwanaga has joined French fund house Amundi as chief investment officer for Japan, replacing Futoshi Saito.
Iwanaga, who took up the position on July 1, will lead the Tokyo-based investment team, which managed $30 billion as of March.
Saito joined Amundi October 2010 and he has left Amundi to pursue new objectives. AsianInvestor could not ascertain his next move by press time.
The firm is on a drive to increase overseas client assets under management from 7% to 15% of its AUM in the next two years.
“Our strategy is to leverage our global sales and marketing network,” a spokesman told AsianInvestor. "Active Japanese equity strategies, including smart beta, will be the main driver of this push, especially in the favourable context of Abenomics."
Amundi Japan has been active in the public pension segment and is seeking to build market share in the corporate pension segment and the financial institution segment.
Prior to joining Amundi, Iwanaga was since 2013 a consultant at investment firm Incapture Japan. Before that, he was Japan CIO at BlackRock and its predecessor firm Barclays Global Investors (BGI).
During his 13 years at BlackRock and BGI, he managed strategies including currency overlay, funds of hedge funds, global macro hedge funds, multi-asset and active equity.
He joined BGI in 1999 from NCB Investment Management.
Fidelity boosts Asia sales team
Fidelity Worldwide Investment has appointed Chin Szu-Yi as head of sales for Southeast Asia effective July 15.
Based in Singapore, she manages a team of six and reports to Mike Nikou, managing director for Southeast Asia. Chin's responsibilities had fallen under Nikou's remit.
Chin joins from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, where she was head of intermediary sales for Southeast Asia across its wholesale channels. Deutsche declined to comment on whether she had been or would be replaced.
Fidelity says it is looking to further expand the sales team in Singapore.
Chin had joined DeAWM in November 2009 and before that spent 10 years with Schroder Investment Management in various capacities, including as head of insurance business development, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Credit Suisse names private banking leader
Credit Suisse has appointed Angie Ma as senior leader of its private banking business for Greater China. Based in Hong Kong, she reports to Jimmy Lee, market leader for Greater China.
Ma will oversee team leaders and relationship managers and focus on Credit Suisse’s integrated banking platform. Credit Suisse confirmed that the role is newly created.
Ma joined Credit Suisse from UBS where she was a managing director and deputy regional market manager for China. AsianInvestor could not confirm whether a replacement had or would be found.
She has also spent 10 years with Merrill Lynch’s global private client group across Hong Kong, Singapore and New York.
Lion Global appoints chief strategist
Singapore fund house Lion Global Investors has appointed Teo Joo-Wah as its chief strategist, effective July 30.
In the newly created role, he will be responsible for all asset allocation calls of the firm’s balanced portfolios and oversee the running of its key portfolio strategies.
Teo will report to chief executive and chief investment officer Gerard Lee.
Before joining Lion Global, he was for nine years head of equities at Fullerton Fund Management, an asset manager that Lee helped spin off from state investment company Temasek in 2003. From 1992 to 2003, Teo was head of the equities team at Temasek’s fund management division. And before that he worked at DBS Bank.
Earlier this month, France’s Axa Investment Managers named Lion Global's former chief investment officer Simon Flood as Asia-Pacific head, as reported. He replaced Jean-Pierre Leoni, who will return to Paris to lead the firm’s client management group from September 1 in a newly created role.
Flood left Lion Global Investors in June last year. Chief executive Gerard Lee assumed the CIO post in addition to his existing responsibilities.
Pimco names new Australia head
Adrian Stewart has joined fixed income manager Pimco as head of Australia from Macquarie Group, where he was head of wholesale distribution and marketing.
He will start in August and report to newly appointed Asia-Pacific chief Eric Mogelof.
John Wilson was previously Pimco’s Australia head but left in May last year, and Rob Mead, head of Australia portfolio management, had taken on his responsibilities on an interim basis.
Sniper Capital fills COO role
Robin Duxfield last month joined real estate investment manager Sniper Capital as chief operating officer. Based in Hong Kong, he reports to principals Tom Ashworth and Martin Tacon.
Duxfield was most recently COO for Altis Partners (Asia) in Hong Kong, a systematic trading hedge fund headquartered in Jersey, the Channel Islands. Before that, he spent 13 years at fund of hedge fund manager FRM (part of Man Group), where he was COO.
He replaces former Sniper Capital COO Tony Smith, who has returned to the UK after 15 years in Hong Kong. Duxfield helps oversee the firm’s fund and deal structuring, and legal and compliance functions.
Sniper manages $500 million of real estate assets in Macau, China and Thailand.
Supply-chain investment company formed
Hong Kong-based supply-chain investor Noble Group and US private equity firm EIG Global Energy Partners have formed Harbour Energy, which will focus on owning and operating upstream and midstream energy assets globally. Investment will target assets that provide exposure to supply trends.
Linda Cook has been appointed a managing director of EIG, a member of EIG's executive committee and chief executive of Harbour Energy. Before joining EIG, she worked for 29 years in various roles at Royal Dutch Shell.
Qatar Financial Centre Authority appoints new CFO
The Qatar Financial Centre Authority has appointed Sheikh Salman Al-Thani as its chief financial and tax officer.
As of press time, the authority had not responded to a request for further information.
The QFC Authority is the commercial and strategic arm of the Qatar Financial Centre, which was established by the government of Qatar in 2005. It is responsible for developing and ensuring compliance with QFC regulations.
Before joining the QFC Authority, Sheikh Salman Al-Thani was director of risk management at Qatar Central Bank. He also worked for Qatar Petroleum in a variety of roles in the project finance department.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor this week:
UPDATE: Pimco names Asia head to replace Hong
Jupiter eyes emerging market debt capability
NewQuest tips ramp-up in PE exits, adds staff