Weekly roundup of people news, Mar 31
Standard Life sells HK unit to China JV
UK insurer Standard Life has agreed to sell its Hong Kong-based business, Standard Life Asia, to its Chinese joint venture, Heng An Standard Life Insurance (HASL).
The acquisition will make the Hong Kong operation an important gateway for Heng An Standard Life into the Hong Kong insurance market, said Alan Armitage, chief executive of Standard Life Asia.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, which is anticipated to take up to 18 months. It is too early to discuss the details of any senior management changes that might derive from the acquisition, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Standard Life Asia was set up in 1999 and HASL in 2003. HASL is a joint venture between Standard Life and Tianjin Teda International Holding. Standard Life owns 50% of HASL.
Fosun rings changes at the top
Two long-standing management executives at China's Fosun International have departed and been replaced.
Liang Xinjun, chief executive and co-founder of the conglomerate and investment company, resigned on March 28, citing health reasons. Ding Guoqi, senior vice president and executive director, who joined the firm in 1995, resigned on the same day, citing family reasons.
Succeeding Liang is Wang Qunbin, one of Fosun’s four founders and its president, a director for Fosun’s high-tech, steel and pharmaceuticals arms, as well as chairman of Peak Reinsurance. Meanwhile, executive directors Chen Qiyu and Xu Xiaoliang have been named co-presidents.
In addition, three executives have now been named executive directors and senior VPs of Fosun International: Kang Lan, president of Fosun Insurance and chief human resources officer of Fosun International; chief financial officer Wang Can; and Gong Ping, CEO of Fosun Property Holdings.
AsianInvestor could not ascertain what Liang's or Ding’s next step would be.
Bank of Singapore poaches StanChart China team
Bank of Singapore confirmed it has hired Teresa Lee as market head for Greater China. Based in Hong Kong, she reports to Sermon Kwan, the private bank's Hong Kong chief executive and global market head for Greater China.
Bank of Singapore declined to confirm or comment on an Asian Private Banker report that at least 12 private bankers had joined the Hong Kong office alongside Lee from Standard Chartered Private Bank this week.
Lee was previously managing director on the Greater China team at Standard Chartered. She and about 10 of her relationship managers left recently, confirmed a spokesperson for the bank.
Lee had joined StanChart in June 2010 from ABN Amro.
Manulife Asia GM promoted to global president
Roy Gori, general manager of Manulife’s Asia division, has been promoted to become the company’s president as of June 5.
He now has responsibility for Manulife’s global operating businesses, reporting to chief executive Donald Guloien, who was the previous president.
Pending immigration approval, the appointment will see Gori relocate to Toronto from Hong Kong.
Manulife will conduct a search to find his replacement. Once appointed, this individual will report to Gori, a spokesman told AsianInvestor.
Manulife names BD head for distribution in HK
Manulife has promoted Ivan Chan to head of business development for distribution operations for Hong Kong.
Chan’s key focus in the newly created role will be on expanding Manulife Hong Kong’s individual insurance business and marketing its insurance products.
He is also leading distribution training and development and the agency recruitment and sales promotion teams, with the aim of creating greater synergy between the functions in Hong Kong and Macau, said the Canadian insurer.
Chan reports to Lawrence Nutting, chief distribution officer for Hong Kong.
Chan previously headed business development for individual financial products across Hong Kong and Macau. He has worked at Manulife since 1999 and has held product marketing and agency roles in Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia.
Marvelstone to launch robo-adviser for family offices
Marvelstone Capital, a Singapore-based asset manager, will launch a robo-adviser platform targeting family offices in Asia in the third quarter of this year.
The platform is being developed in partnership with Smartfolios, a Singapore-based fintech startup.
Marvelstone received a fund management company licence in Singapore in August last year.
SingAlliance hires former Falcon and EFG staff
Oliver Kuhn, former head of portfolio management at Falcon Private Bank, has joined SingAlliance, an independent wealth manager based in Singapore, as senior portfolio manager.
Yu Lan-Hua, formerly a senior PM at Falcon, has also joined Kuhn's team as senior PM.
Kuhn and Yu both left Falcon in December and joined SingAlliance in January to manage fixed income portfolios, SingAlliance chief executive Thierry Beck told AsianInvestor.
Meanwhile, Mike Kim, formerly private banker at EFG International, joined SingAlliance as senior relationship manager in January. EFG didn't respond by press time to a request for comment.
The three new executives are all additional hires, Beck said.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore withdrew Falcon’s private banking licence in October for breaching anti-money laundering rules amid the scandal surrounding Malaysian state fund 1MDB.
Savills IM adds PM in Australia
Savills Investment Management, a UK-based real estate asset manager, added Annie Li on March 27 as a portfolio manager in Sydney.
As the second investment executive on the Australian team, Li will work closely with Lee Tredwell, who was appointed head of investment in January.
Li previously spent 10 years at GE Capital Real Estate and has also held roles at Fosun Property Holdings, Dexus and AMP.
Savills IM opened the Sydney office last year and will expand the team according to asset growth in the region, said a spokesman.
Indosuez WM appoints head of real estate
Indosuez Wealth Management has named Vincenzo Salari as global head of real estate to replace Anthony Guerard, who has been on sabbatical in Miami since September.
Salari took up the Luxembourg-based role in January. He reports to Frédéric Lamotte, chief investment officer at Indosuez WM, the private banking arm of France’s Credit Agricole.
Salari had previously been a senior manager at consultancy KPMG in Luxembourg since 2014, in charge of planning and organisation in the real estate department. He has also worked at BNP Paribas Real Estate Milan and REAG American Appraisal.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:
BlackRock’s EM shuffle puts Asia centre stage