Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 17
Family office Nutrimenta names new Asia chief
Swiss family office Nutrimenta has promoted Bennett Lim to chief executive for its Asian office in Singapore to replace Asaf Berman, AsianInvestor can reveal.
Berman stepped down in December but remains as a partner.
Lim (pictured left) was and remains the head of research and portfolio manager for Asian high yield and distressed/special situations. He has been with Nutrimenta since 2013 and will continue to run the Asian fixed income fund and manage the team of credit analysts.
Lim was “the natural choice”, said Berman. “He was the most senior guy in Asia, after me.”
Berman had been CEO in Singapore since August 2013 and has worked for Nutrimenta since June 2004.
Nutrimenta started life as a single-family office for Switzerland’s Jaglom family before transitioning to a multi-family operation in 1972. It set up the Singapore branch in early 2011.
Credit Suisse PB adds RMs, names foundation head
Credit Suisse Private Banking has hired a senior relationship manager in Hong Kong, after a number of other RM hires in recent months, and a new head of SymAsia, its philanthropic foundation in the region.
Young Jin-Yee, market group head for Singapore private banking, takes on the additional role of chief executive of SymAsia, which was set up to support clients with their philanthropic needs. She takes over from Benjamin Cavalli, Credit Suisse’s Singapore CEO, head of private banking for Southeast Asia. Cavalli was promoted to Singapore CEO in January.
Meanwhile, Pauline Or joined in January as a senior relationship manager for the Hong Kong market. Before that she was an RM at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management for six years. Deutsche declined to comment on the departure.
This follows other hires to Credit Suisse PB's Greater China team in November and December. A spokesperson said the firm added 60 RMs net last year in Asia Pacific to take the count up to 640 at end-2016.
Vincent Chan has joined as a director and team leader for the China market. Before joining Credit Suisse, he was a team head at Bank of China International Private Banking. BOCI didn’t respond to a query by press time.
Chen Yu-Ling has been appointed as a senior RM for the Hong Kong market. She joined from Barclays Wealth, where she was a director and senior private banker. Barclays Wealth's Asia business was acquired by rival Bank of Singapore early last year.
Doris Sze has joined as a director and senior RM for the Hong Kong market. Before joining Credit Suisse, she was a director at Bank of China International Private Banking. BOCI didn’t respond to queries by press time.
Credit Suisse entered China's onshore private banking market in November, appointing ex-RBS executive Rick Meng as head of private banking based in Shanghai. He was previously head of corporate coverage for China and Shanghai branch manager at RBS.
CR Yuanta Fund names new GM
CR Yuanta Fund, a joint venture between China Resources Shenzhen International Trust and Taiwan’s Yuanta Securities Investment Trust, has named Sun Yewei as general manager, effective February 13. He replaces Lin Ruiyuan, who left the firm on the same date.
Sun joined CR Yuanta in September 2016 as an executive assistant, a senior position often seen as successor to the GM. Before that, he was GM at another Chinese firm, Orient Fund, until August 2016.
Orient Fund's Liu Hongpeng has been promoted from deputy GM to replace Sun.
Indosuez WM adds duo in Hong Kong
Indosuez Wealth Management, the private banking arm of French bank Credit Agricole, has made two senior appointments in Hong Kong, effective February 6.
Stanley Yeo and Radhika Jasuja have been named senior directors in Hong Kong. They are additional hires to develop the bank's commercial reach, a spokesperson said.
Before joining Indosuez, Yeo was a director with ANZ Private Bank, working in both Hong Kong and Australia. Jasuja worked at BNP Paribas Wealth Management in Singapore as a director and senior private banker.
ANZ said Yeo has not been replaced yet, and BNP Paribas did not respond to queries by press time.
ANZ sold its Asian wealth business to Singaporean bank DBS late last year.
The new appointments at Indosuez WM follow that of Arjan de Boer as Asia head of markets and investment solutions to replace Norbert Joue, effective February 6.
Indosuez WM also named Pierre Masclet as chief executive for Asia last month, a newly created role.
Maybank AM group CEO exits
Nor Azamin Salleh reportedly left his role as chief executive at Malaysia's Maybank Asset Management in January, with the company yet to name a successor for him.
His relationship with Maybank began in 2013, where he was appointed as a non-independent non-executive director of Maybank Private Equity, reported Asia Asset Management.
Prior to that, he was executive director and CEO of AIIMAN (Asian Islamic Investment Management), a subsidiary of DBS Asset Management.
Maybank AM did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
Sun Life appoints new Asia marketing chief
Sun Life Financial has promoted Hong Kong chief marketing officer Jeremy Young to CMO for Asia, effective February 13. He succeeds Kelly Leahy, who left the company in June 2016.
Young reports to Roger Steel, president of new markets and business development for Asia at Sun Life.
RBC names head of international wealth management
RBC Wealth Management, part of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), has named Ashif Ratanshi as head of wealth management – international, to be effective from May 1. He will succeed Stuart Rutledge, who will take on a new leadership role with RBC in Toronto.
London-based Ratanshi will lead RBC’s wealth businesses in Asia, the UK and the Channel Islands, reporting to Doug Guzman, group head of wealth management and insurance.
Ratanshi has been with the RBC group for 30 years, most recently as senior vice president of personal deposits and investments in the personal and commercial banking division.
Principal Financial's Asia chair retires
Principal Financial’s Asia chairman, Rex Auyeung (pictured right), will retire in June after 23 years at the US financial services group.
Thomas Cheong, vice president of North Asia, and Pedro Borda, vice president of South Asia and India, will continue to lead business operations in the region.
Principal has not ascertained who will succeed Auyeung as Asia chair, a spokesperson said.
Cheong and Borda will now report directly to Luis Valdes, president of Principal International.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor.net in the past week:
AGIC's debt $1bn fund largely backed by China capital