Weekly roundup of people news, Dec 9
First State Super appoints new CIO
Melbourne-based First State Super has appointed Damian Graham chief investment officer, after he had taken the role on an interim basis in August following the resignation of Richard Brandweiner.
Brandweiner is taking up a directorship at UK-based impact investment firm LeapFrog Investments.
Graham takes the post at the A$75 billion ($56 billion) Australian pension fund, having previously managed investments at Stateplus, a financial planning company that First State bought in May. He now oversees the investment teams for both entities.
Graham (pictured left) has also worked at Macquarie, most recently as head of private portfolio investments.
In an interview with Australian Financial Review this week, he said FSS was looking to manage more of its assets in-house. The retirement scheme joins a growing list of super funds – including AustralianSuper, UniSuper and Cbus – bolstering their in-house investment capability with a focus on reducing asset manager fees.
Ontario Teachers’ Taylor promoted to oversee Asia
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) has promoted Jo Taylor to senior managing director for its international operations in London and Hong Kong, to be effective January 1.
The C$171.4 billion ($130 billion) retirement fund is headqurtered in Toronto and has operations in London and Hong Kong.
Based in London, Taylor is OTPP’s regional managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The promotion means he will also oversee the Asia-Pacific operations.
Nicole Musicco, the current managing director for Asia Pacific, will return from Hong Kong to Toronto on January 1 to head public equities at OTPP.
Taylor is leading the search for a new managing director for Hong Kong, who will report to him. Until that position is filled, he will split his time between London and Hong Kong.
Taylor will continue to report to Bjarne Graven Larsen, Toronto-based chief investment officer.
Eastspring Hong Kong CEO departs
Au King-Lun, Hong Kong chief executive of Eastspring Investments, the Asian investment arm of UK insurer Prudential, leaves the company today (December 9).
Guy Strapp (pictured right), Hong Kong-based CEO of Eastspring, will assume responsibility for the Hong Kong office.
The firm does not plan to replace Au, who had joined Eastspring in December 2015 from Bank of China Hong Kong Asset Management, where he was CEO.
AsianInvestor could not ascertain where Au might be going next; he declined to comment when contacted.
Meanwhile, Eastspring appointed Virginie Maisonneuve, former chief investment officer of equities at Pimco, as CIO last month. Based in Singapore, she will assume the role on January 11 from Guy Strapp, who is currently both CEO and CIO.
AIA seeks new Australia CIO
Hong Kong-based insurer AIA is seeking a new chief investment officer for Australia to replace Graeme Bibby, who will leave on January 6 to join Melbourne-based wealth management firm Mutual Trust.
He had served as CIO since 2009. AIA, which had $168 billion under management as the end of 2015, is seeking a replacement.
At Mutual Trust, Bibby will report to chief executive Tim Hammon and replaces Tony Huntley, who left the firm in August.
Dominic Lane exits HSBC PB Singapore
HSBC Private Bank's Singapore head of international markets, Dominic Lane, has left the firm. He had taken up his latest position this year.
Lane had been with HSBC Private Bank in Singapore since December 2012, and before that in London as relationship manager since 2009, according to his LinkedIn page. Lane has also worked for Citi Private Bank and Landsbanki Private Bank in Singapore.
HSBC declined to comment.
Wing Lung Bank private bank head exits
Wing Lung Bank's head of private banking and wealth management, Joseph Tam, left the firm on December 2. The firm declined to comment on his departure.
Tam had been responsible for the relationship management teams covering Hong Kong and mainland China as well as the family trustee and product development units.
He had joined Wing Lung in May 2014 and has also worked for Credit Suisse's and HSBC's private banking arms.
Deutsche WM adds to greater China team
Deutsche Bank Wealth Management hired Terry Tung from UBS on November 16 as a managing director for wealth management client coverage in Greater China.
Deutsche said Tung's appointment was an addition to the client team in Hong Kong, and he is understood to report to Bonita Chuang, the team head. The firm declined to say whether anyone had left the Greater China desk in recent months.
At UBS, Tung was an executive director covering ultra-high-net-worth clients in Greater China. He left the Swiss bank in July and his role has been spread among the existing team. Tung has also worked at HSBC Private Bank.
HK Private Wealth Association names new head
Hong Kong's Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA) has appointed Peter Stein as managing director to succeed Joanne Leung, who will retire at the end of this year.
Stein joined on December 8 from UBS, where he was Asia-Pacific head of regulatory advisory and relations. Before that, he was a senior editor in Hong Kong with The Wall Street Journal, where he had worked for 20 years, most recently as a bureau chief and senior editor of the Asian edition.
He has a background in regulatory affairs, public policy and communications, and can work in both Mandarin and Cantonese, making him well suited to facilitate dialogue between the industry, the government and regulatory stakeholders, said the PWMA.
He will report directly to the executive committee, headed by Amy Lo, country head of UBS Hong Kong.
JLL names Asia research strategy director
Property services firm JLL has appointed David Rees as director of research strategy for Asia, effective from January 1.
Rees (pictured left), who had led JLL’s Australia research since 2008, will remain in Sydney and report to Megan Walters, Singapore-based head of research for Asia Pacific.
Rees’s role has been newly created as the company aims to develop new products and services such as portfolio analysis, a spokesperson said.
Andrew Ballantyne, head of strategic research for JLL’s Australian capital markets business, will succeed Rees and also retain his old role.
Withers KhattarWong adds partner
Withers KhattarWong, a Singapore-based partnership between UK law firm Withers and Singaporean law firm KhattarWong, added Farhana Siddiqui as a corporate partner on December 6.
She advises on mergers and acquisitions, debt structuring and restructuring, with a focus on private equity, private capital and family office fund transactions.
Siddiqui joins from law firm Drew & Napier, which did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:
Edmond de Rothschild's exit from HK "just the tip of the iceberg"
LGT-ABN Amro merger poses cultural challenges
LGT wins bid to buy ABN Amro Asia wealth management business