Weekly roundup of people news, Apr 20

OMGI SHUTTERS ASIAN EQUITIES TEAM IN HONG KONG

Old Mutual Global Investors is shuttering its Asian equities unit and handing management of its two Asian equity funds, now managed from Hong Kong, to its global equities desk, headed by Ian Heslop.

As a result, Josh Crabb and colleagues in the Asian equities team will leave the business in May.

Crabb, head of Asian equities, joined OMGI in 2014 from BlackRock. The other team members are Kris Whitlock, assistant portfolio manager, who was previously with BlackRock according to LinkedIn, and Taylor Connaughton, Asian equities analyst, previously with Schlumberger according to LinkedIn.

After the change, there will be no investment teams based in Hong Kong and no Asian equities team either in Hong Kong or London, a spokesman for OMGI told AsianInvestor.

The move comes amid a trend for asset management industry consolidation and cutbacks. For instance, Amundi laid off most of its Asia-based investment staff following last year's merger with Pioneer, while Axa Investment Managers closed its multi-asset desk in Hong Kong early this year.

OMGI said the change followed a fund range review, which concluded that investors in the $179.7 million Old Mutual Pacific Equity Fund and $420.7 million Old Mutual Asian Equity Income Fund would benefit from the management of OMGI’s global equities team.

The global equities team is scheduled to take on management of the funds on May 18.

CITI PRIVATE BANK APPOINTS APAC INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SALES HEAD

Citi Private Bank has appointed Julie Koo as head of Citi investment management (CIM) sales for Asia Pacific, effective April 16.

In this role, she leads sales of the private bank’s discretionary investment management capabilities in the region, covering equities, fixed income and multi-asset class mandates, as well as sales of third-party mutual fund, hedge fund, private equity and real estate offerings.

Koo is based in Hong Kong and reports to Roger Bacon, head of investments for Asia Pacific, as well as Stephanie Luedke and Dan O’Donnell, global heads of CIM and CIM alternatives, respectively.

She succeeds Adam Proctor, who was appointed global market manager for Singapore, Australia and New Zealand in February this year.

Koo was most recently at UBS where she was the head of institutional distribution for Asia Pacific and head of the overall Hong Kong business for UBS Asset Management. Her departure was first reported by AsianInvestor.

UBS AM is understood not to have named a replacement for Koo yet. 

Koo has previously worked for Fidelity and HSBC Asset Management.

STEPHEN CHANG RESURFACES AT PIMCO

US fixed income investment manager Pimco has appointed Stephen Chang as executive vice-president and portfolio manager.

Effective May 7, Hong Kong-based Chang will be a senior portfolio manager on the Asia portfolio management team, with a particular focus on the firm’s dedicated fixed income portfolios. The role is newly created to grow Pimco’s Asia fixed income capabilities, a Pimco spokeswoman said.

Chang will work with the Asia credit research team as well, led by Raja Mukherji, executive vice-president and head of Asian credit research.

He will report to Rob Mead and Tomoya Masanao, managing directors and co-heads of portfolio management in Asia Pacific, as well as Newport Beach-based Mohit Mittal, managing director and portfolio manager.

Chang was most recently head of Asian fixed income at JP Morgan Asset Management. He left JP Morgan at the end of February, as reported by AsianInvestor, and was replaced by Ho Shaw-Yyann, previously JP Morgan AM's head of Asian credit.

CREDIT SUISSE WINS PHILIPPINES LICENCE, NAMES INTERIM WEALTH HEAD 

Credit Suisse has received a licence from Bangko Sentra ng Pilipinas (BSP) to establish a representative office (RO) in the Philippines for its wealth management business.

Christian Senn, market group head of Philippines for private banking for Asia Pacific, will head the representative office in the interim, while a head of the office (based in Manila) will be set up in due course, a spokeswoman for Credit Suisse said.

Senn is now based in Singapore.

Credit Suisse already has teams in Singapore and Hong Kong covering the Philippine market; AsianInvestor understands the RO will act as a liason office for Credit Suisse to promote the bank’s products and services.

JP MORGAN AM’S GLOBAL MULTI-ASSET EXPERT RELOCATES TO HONG KONG

JP Morgan Asset Management’s global multi-asset solutions strategist Patrik Schöwitz relocated  from New York to Hong Kong, taking up his new duties on April 18.

Schöwitz will continue to report to John Bilton, London-based global head of multi-asset strategy. His title remains the same although his duties have been expanded after the relocation.

Schöwitz is responsible for determining global economic and asset allocation strategies for both institutional and retail clients. In addition to his existing role, he also focuses on enhancing analysis and research for the Asia Pacific region after he moves to Hong Kong.

JP Morgan AM said such a role did not exist in the region previously.

M&G APPOINTS ASIA HEAD OF INTERMEDIARIES

M&G Investments hired William Tan as head of intermediary channels for Asia. He took up his duties on April 16

Based in Singapore, Tan is responsible for the coverage of private banks, external asset managers and other wealth managers in the region. He reports to Jonathan Willcocks, M&G’s London-based global head of distribution.

He replaces Ben Cherrington, who will relocate to M&G in the UK later this year. 

Prior to joining M&G, Tan was director of strategic solutions for Southeast Asia at Capital Group but left that role in July last year. The US firm plans to replace him, said a spokeswoman. 

UBP APPOINTS SINGAPORE MARKET HEAD

Swiss private bank Union Bancaire Privée has named Sharmaine Han as managing director and market head for Singapore.

Effective in mid-April, the Singapore-based Han reports to Ranjit Khanna, chief executive of Singapore and head of South Asia, a UBP spokeswoman said.

Han was most recently managing director of private banking in Singapore for Standard Chartered. She was one of six private wealth personnel to jump from Standard Chartered’s wealth division to UBP; the remaining five were a mix of junior relationship managers and client services managers.

UBP declined to comment on the identities of the other five hires.

No direct replacement for Han has been announced, a Standard Chartered spokeswoman said.

KAMET CAPITAL PARTNERS NAMES CRO, CFO

Singapore family office Kamet Capital Partners has appointed Kian Ek Quek as chief risk officer and chief financial officer.

Kian started his role on March 20, a Kamet Capital Partners spokesman said, and he reports to chief executive and chief investment officer Kerry Goh.

Prior to his hire, the chief risk officer and financial officer duties were covered by Goh and chief operating officer Derek Tay, the spokesman said.

Most recently, Kian was deputy chief investment officer and chief financial officer at German fund house Allianz Investment Management in Singapore, and he left that role on March 19, the Kamet spokesman said.

Allianz did not respond to AsianInvestor queries on Kian's departure or whether a replacement has been announced.

Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the last week:

P2P startup hires ex-Value Partners exec to tap investors