Aberdeen Standard lures marketing head from Fidelity
Newly merged Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has poached a long-standing executive of rival fund house Fidelity to run its marketing division in Asia, with two staff members exiting as a result, AsianInvestor can reveal.
David Mitchell joined in Singapore in early January as head of Asia-Pacific marketing for ASI, formed last year by the combination of Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life Group.
The appointment led to the departures of senior executives from the two legacy businesses: Patrick Corfe, formerly marketing and global content head for Asia Pacific at Aberdeen AM, and Katherine Cheung, formerly head of Asia marketing at Standard Life Investments (SLI).
Corfe had been with Aberdeen since 1994. His previous hybrid role is now being looked after by Mitchell in the region and Simon Sharp, ASI’s Edinburgh-based head of investment marketing, said the spokeswoman.
Mitchell is responsible for building the ASI brand proposition and steering the strategic marketing direction for the region, working alongside the regional distribution team, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
He reports to Hugh Young, ASI's head of Asia Pacific, and Andy Johnston, Edinburgh-based global co-head of marketing.
Mitchell had spent 20 years at Fidelity in both Asia and the US, most recently as head of marketing for Southeast Asia and the Middle East, according to his Linkedin page. His other roles included Hong Kong head of intermediary sales and head of marketing for South Korea.
Cheung had been with SLI for since June 2016 and before that had served as an adviser to the firm since September 2013, according to her LinkedIn page. Before that she spent some 13 years at US fund house BlackRock overseeing marketing and communications for Asia.