BNY Mellon IM hires Asia head of consultant relations
BNY Mellon Investment Management has created the role of Asia-Pacific head of consultant relationships and client services and named Deborah Bannon to fill it, AsianInvestor can reveal.
She started in the Hong Kong-based role on Monday, reporting to Lindsay Wright, head of distribution and co-head for Asia Pacific at BNY Mellon IM.
Bannon will oversee the firm's relationships with global consulting firms. These relationships were previously looked after by the various regional sales teams, said a spokeswoman by email.
She joins BNY IM, a multi-boutique firm with $1.8 trillion under management, with 25 years experience in the investment industry.
Her appointment represents the addition of another senior industry professional as the company continues to strengthen its team following the departure of several high-level individuals amid the closure of Spectrum, its separately managed account platform, in 2015.
Bannon spent five years as investments business leader for North Asia ex-Japan at consultancy Mercer Investments in Hong Kong. She left the firm in December last year amid a group-wide leadership shake-up, as reported by AsianInvestor, and has since taken a break from the industry.
Before joining Mercer, Bannon spent eight years at Pioneer Investments in Hong Kong as Asia head of institutional business. She previously worked for six years at Royal & Sun Alliance, now Friends Provident International, where she was responsible for third-party distribution across Asia.
Bannon's appointment follows the recent hire of Chris Hamer as head of consultant relationships for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea). He replaces Ian Williams, who took up a similar role at Aquila Capital. Hamer joined in May from Columbia Threadneedle, where he was consultant relations director for Emea and Asia Pacific.