Weekly roundup of people news, Jan 12
STATE STREET GLOBAL ADVISORS CREATES NEW KOREA HEAD ROLE
US asset manager State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) has appointed Um Tae Jong as head of Korea.
Um started his role on Dec 28, an SSGA spokeswoman said, and he oversees the firm’s Korean business strategy and driving future development initiatives.
The Seoul-based role is newly created, the spokeswoman said, and Um will report to June Wong, head of Asia ex-Japan at SSGA. The responsibilities of the role prior to his appointment were shared between Wong and other senior executives in the region, with on the ground market research and liaison support in Korea from Hong Insook, chief representative of SSGA’s Korea representative office, the spokeswoman explained. Going forward, Hong will be a part of Um’s team, the spokeswoman added.
Um’s most recent role was managing director and head of Korea for index provider MSCI. He had also worked as chief investment officer for global investment at Korean investment manager Samsung Asset Management and head of the international investment division at Korean insurance company Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance.
MSCI did not respond to queries from AsianInvestor by press time. MSCI did not respond to requests for comment on his departure.
CREDIT SUISSE PRIVATE BANKING HIRES TWO INVESTMENT EXPERTS
Credit Suisse has hired two investment professionals in Singapore.
Eddy Loh (pictured, left) was hired as senior investment strategist, while Julian Wee was appointed investment strategist.
Both are based in Singapore and report to John Woods, chief investment officer for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse.
These appointments are part of the bank‘s goal of bulking up its investment strategy capabilities, Credit Suisse said in a media release. Loh joined in December 2017 from Bank of Singapore, where he was executive director and a member of the investment counseling team.
He has also previously worked with Barclays, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and DBS.
Wee (pictured, right), who will support the investment team with overage of the implications of macroeconomic and policy developments on foreign exchange and Asian markets, joins from National Australia Bank in December
He previously worked for BSI Bank (which was taken over by EFG) and independent research house IdeaGlobal.
Credit Suisse did not respond to queries on whether the roles are newly created; neither National Australia Bank nor Bank of Singapore responded to queries on whether Loh and Wee had been replaced, respectively.
HSBC SINGAPORE NAMES NEW WEALTH & INTERNATIONAL HEAD
HSBC Singapore has appointed Cameron Senior as head of wealth and international in its core retail banking and wealth management team.
He reports to head of retail banking and wealth management Anurag Mathur, an HSBC spokeswoman confirmed. Effective November 1, Senior oversees the bank’s wealth and international strategy, strengthening their wealth management and advisory sales platform across both domestic and international business.
The role is newly created, though HSBC declined to comment on who covered the responsibilities of the role prior to his appointment.
Senior’s most recent role was head of retail distribution for HSBC Bank in Singapore. He has also held a number of senior positions at HSBC, including head of sales performance for Apac and head of premier for Apac, the bank’s priority retail banking service, according to a LinkedIn page.
VONTOBEL AM NAMES SENIOR RM FOR AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND
Vontobel Asset Management has appointed Andreas Faeste as senior institutional relationship manager for clients in Australia and New Zealand.
Faeste took up the new role at the Zurich-based company on January 8 and he reports to Bobby Bostic, head of sales for Australia and New Zealand. Both of them are based in Sydney.
This is a newly created role, as the company sees growing market demand for fixed Income offerings in Australia, according to a company spokesman.
Faeste was the managing director of Breakwater Advisory, a marketing, fund placement and advisory firm. Faeste established the company in 2014, according to the company website.
BANK J SAFRA SARASIN LOSES SINGAPORE CEO
The chief executive officer of the Singapore office of Bank J Safra Sarasin, Benedikt Maissen, has left.
He used to report to the group’s Asia chief executive officer, Enid Yip.
Maissen had joined the private bank in April 2016. He had previously been head of the Zurich branch of Societe Generale Private Banking since January 2014.
Bank J Safra Sarasin did not respond to queries on when exactly Maissen had left or whether a replacement would be announced.
LMAX EXCHANGE NAMES HEAD OF INSTITUTIONAL FX FOR ASIA PACIFIC
UK-based forex trading platform LMAX Exchange Group has appointed Quentin Miller as head of institutional foreign exchange for Asia Pacific.
Based in Singapore, the newly created position is designed to grow the LMAX Exchange institutional business in the region, according to a press release. Miller will report to Scott Moffat, the managing director for Asia Pacific and joined this month, according to his LinkedIn profile. LMAX Exchange did not respond to requests for further details of his role.
Quentin joined the company from Standard Chartered, where he was executive director of eTrading in Singapore. StanChart confirmed Miller departed in November but declined to comment further.
SAFRA SARASIN PRIVATE BANKER JOINS RISK CONSULTANCY IN SINGAPORE
Deepesh Agarwal this month joined Singapore-based Argus Global as managing director.
Argus Global is a consultancy that focuses on compliance, governance and risk services.
He was previously executive director for ultra high net worth clients at Bank J Safra Sarasin, according to his LinkedIn profile, which also shows that he joined in August 2017. He left the bank in December, the LinkedIn profile shows.
The profile also shows that he previously worked for Standard Chartered and Barclays.
A spokesperson for Bank J Safra Sarasin confirmed his departure but declined to comment further.
JULIUS BAER HIRES RM FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA
Julius Baer has hired Lionel Poh is a director and relationship manager covering clients in Southeast Asia.
Poh joined the Swiss private bank in October last year, according to his LinkedIn profile. Julius Baer declined to comment on where he is based, his reporting line and the person he replaced.
He was Singapore-based associate director and investment advisor at Standard Chartered private banking, a position he left in October 2017.
His replacement is in place, according to a company spokesman at Standard Chartered.
MARK MOBIUS TO RETIRE FROM FRANKLIN TEMPLETON INVESTMENTS
Mark Mobius, one of the pioneers of emerging market investing, is retiring at the end of January from Franklin Templeton Investments.
Mobius, executive chairman of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group (TEMG), has spent more than 40 years working in emerging markets all over the world.
He was hired by the late Sir John Templeton in 1987 to launch one of the first mutual funds dedicated to emerging markets.
Mobius oversaw Templeton’s emerging markets team from 1987 to 2016.
In early 2016, Stephen Dover was named chief investment officer of the TEMG, and Mobius moved away from the day-to-day management of the group and its funds.
Templeton Emerging Markets Group has approximately 50 experienced investment professionals in 20 offices and over $28 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2017.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:
Mercer’s Asia wealth head exits for own venture
Value Partners replaces sales head Wayne Shum