Weekly roundup of people news, August 12

StanChart PB makes senior hires in Hong Kong
Standard Chartered Private Bank has hired Michael Yong-Haron as one of several heads of relationship management for China and Alex Tse as a senior team leader for client advisory in Hong Kong. 

Yong-Haron was formerly head of North Asia at RBC Wealth Management, part of Royal Bank of Canada, but left the firm in May, as reported. RBC WM has since reshuffled its Asia leadership, appointing Peter Corry as Asia head in June, succeeding Barend Janssens, who is retiring.

Tse was hired from Credit Suisse where he was managing director and sector head for private banking. The Swiss bank did not respond to queries about Tse's exact title and replacement.

A spokeswoman said Yong-Haron and Tse were hires to help grow the business in Hong Kong. She could not confirm by press time whether they had direcly replaced anyone.

Stella Kong had been hired as head of relationship management for China back in 2010. Kong's most recent role at StanChart was deputy regional head of private banking for Greater China and North Asia, but she left the firm in April to join Credit Suisse.

Julius Baer poaches UBS veteran Klenk 
Swiss private bank Julius Baer has lured long-time UBS executive Yves Klenk to join as head of markets and advisory solutions for Hong Kong. The role has been created role because the firm is in need of more management capacity on the ground, said a spokeswoman.

Klenk joined this month reporting to Luigi Vignola, head of markets and advisory solutions for Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. Vignola had been overseeing Hong Kong before Klenk came on board.

Klenk was most recently head of active advisory for Asia Pacific at UBS Wealth Management based in Hong Kong. He had worked for UBS for 18 years, starting as a trainee before holding hold various roles across Switzerland and Hong Kong.

UBS declined to comment on whether Klenk had been replaced.

Noah Holdings names new HK chief
Chinese wealth manager Noah Holdings has appointed Liu Yihao as chief executive for its Hong Kong subsidiary. He replaces Shang Chuang, who has been promoted to executive director within the group, and his coverage will be announced soon.

Liu joined on August 8, reporting to Kenny Lam, group CEO of Noah Holdings. Liu was previously chief Beijing representative at the New York Stock Exchange. He had also worked at Merrill Lynch for 10 years.

Liu has some 20 years of experience in investment banking and private equity, developing strategic and capital-raising plans for private and public companies.

OMGI's Crabb takes on China fund as Lee exits
Diamond Lee, previously Hong Kong-based China equity fund manager at Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI), left the firm on July 22 to start up and run commercial and social enterprises in Hong Kong and the UK. He had joined OMGI, part of UK-based Old Mutual Wealth, in November 2014.  

Josh Crabb, head of Asian equities in Hong Kong, has taken over the running of Lee’s $59.8 million equity fund. Crabb's Asian portfolio has a high exposure to Chinese equities, and is familiar with the mainland macroeconomic environment, said an OMGI spokesperson.

The UK firm is looking to boost its Asian equities team with additional hires, which may include appointing a Chinese equity specialist, but has not set a timeframe for doing so.

Prior to joining OMGI, Lee was a portfolio manager at Ignis Asset Management in Glasgow, Scotland, where he managed several Asian equity funds for 19 years.

Crabb had joined OMGI from BlackRock to establish the Asian equity team in 2014.

Invesco boosts institutional sales team in Australia
US asset manager Invesco has hired Jessica Grant in Australia as its new director of institutional sales for the states of Victoria and Tasmania. It is not clear who looked after those responsibilities previously. 

Based in Melbourne, Grant reports to Eben Bowditch, Australia head of sales at Invesco. 

Grant joined on August 1 from UBS Asset Management, where she was director of institutional business development in Australia. She has not yet been replaced at UBS. She has also worked for Macquarie Goup from 2007 until she joined UBS AM in 2012.

Elsewhere in the region, Invesco lost three institutional salespeople to US-based TIAA Global Asset Management, AsianInvestor revealed this week. They are Simon England-Brammer, previously Invesco's head of institutional for Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and Korea, and two of his former team members, Kelvin Cheung and Tan Ying Li.

BNPP IP poaches from Blackrock in Australia  
BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) has hired James Langlands from BlackRock as head of advice business for Australia and New Zealand. In this newly created role, he will work with dealer groups, private wealth firms, family offices and consultant and research houses.

Based in Melbourne, Langlands reports to David Grybas, BNPP IP’s CEO of Australia and New Zealand.

Langlands had been head of wealth advisory (retail) at BlackRock in Melbourne since 2014. He had also served previously in the same location as director for institutional client business and before that co-head of customised portfolio service.

At BlackRock, Jason Collins, head of Australian institutional client business, will see his remit expand to cover Langlands' retail coverage, on an interim basis. 

BNPP IP has €533 billion ($596 billion) in AUM globally, of which A$5.6 billion is sourced from Australia and New Zeland. 

Singapore IAM hires from Standard Chartered
Singapore-based independent asset manager TriLake Partners has added Dean Elder as senior client relationship manager, reporting to chief executive Lucie Hulme.

Elder took up the newly created role on August 10 from Standard Chartered Private Bank, where he was Singapore-based director for managing relationships with foreign nationals. He has 28 years of international banking experience in the UK, the Channel Islands and Singapore.

This is the third senior hire TriLake has made since last month. It brought in Daniel Brunner as senior client relationship manager for Greater China on July 1 and Arnulfo de Pala as chief investment officer on July 25.

Standard Chartered did not respond to a query about whether Elder had been or would be replaced.

CBRE appoints Japan head
Property services firm CBRE has appointed Eiji Sakaguchi as president and chief executive for Japan. He will join CBRE on October 3 from Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley, where he is currently head of real estate.

Based in Tokyo, Sakaguchi will take over the Japan CEO from Ben Duncan, North Asia president of CBRE, who also serves as CEO for Greater China. Sakaguchi will report to Duncan, who is based in Hong Kong.

He has some 30 years of real estate and financial services experience and has also worked for Mitsui Fudosan.

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley didn't respond to a query about whether Sakaguchi had been or would be replaced.

Withers boosts trust practice in Singapore
UK law firm Withers appointed Marcus Hinkley as special counsel in its Singapore office on August 8 to boost its trust advisory team, reporting to Jay Krause, Asia head of wealth planning. 

Hinkley joins from offshore law firm Collas Crill, where he was most recently head of the Singapore office. Collas Crill didn't respond to a query about his replacement.

He advises on all aspects of private wealth structuring, with an emphasis on Southeast Asia.

Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:

New Hong Kong insurance watchdog facing hiring challenge

Zurich poaches Asia chief from Generali

HK investment veterans launch Mount Logan Capital

TIAA hires Invesco sales trio for Asia buildout

Franklin Templeton names new Southeast Asia head in global reshuffle