Weekly roundup of people news, May 25
AIG HIRES EX-MERCER EXEC FOR CHINA UNIT
American International Group has said Lisa Sun will join the company as chief executive officer of AIG Insurance Company China.
A spokeswoman for AIG said Sun's joining date had not been decided yet as the company was waiting for Chinese regulatory approval. She is joining from Mercer, where she was most recently CEO of the organisation's Hong Kong coverage, and of its south and east Asia zone.
Sun will be based in Shanghai and report to Chris Townsend, chief executive for international general insurance at AIG.
She replaces Eric Zheng, who is leaving AIG to pursue other opportunities, AIG said in a media statement.
Mercer did not respond to queries on whether Sun had already left the firm or if it had named a replacement for her.
METLIFE’S AUSTRALIA CEO EXITS
Deanne Stewart has resigned as chief executive for Australia at Metlife. Her last day is today (May 25).
Vince Watt, chief financial officer for Australia, will assume responsibility for the Australia business as acting CEO on an interim basis, a company spokeswoman said.
Stewart will join First State Super as CEO in late 2018, according to a May 23 media report. First State Super has not replied to AsianInvestor’s query to confirm the news.
UBS INSTO EXEC FOR SE ASIA TO JOIN RHB
Malaysia's RHB Banking Group has hired Yeo Boon Kock from UBS Asset Management to be its regional head for mergers and acquisitions at RHB Investment Bank, a bank spokeswoman confirmed to AsianInvestor. Based in Kuala Lumpur he will take up his duties on August 23.
Yeo will focus on developing, leading and building the regional M&A business for the group as well as providing industry expertise to support customers in the transport, logistics and infrastructure sector, according to a statement from RHB.
Yeo is now head of institutional client coverage for Southeast Asia at UBS AM. A spokeswoman for UBS said the group was seeking a replacement for Yeo.
QIC NAMES GLOBAL REAL ESTATE COO
State-owned investor Queensland Investment Corporation has appointed David Asplin as chief operating officer for global real estate.
Effective July 1, Asplin will manage the performance of QIC’s global real estate business. The role is newly created as part of the Australian firm’s expansion of its property management structure, driven partly by the operational needs of QIC's 12 US shopping mall assets, a QIC spokeswoman said.
Asplin will be based in Brisbane, and he will report to Steve Leigh, managing director for global real estate.
Before his promotion, Asplin was most recently managing director of global business development for QIC, and he will continue to serve on QIC’s executive committee.
A replacement for his previous role has not been announced yet, the spokeswoman said.
STATE STREET'S FIXED INCOME LENDING TRADER CHANGES FOCUS
Asset services group State Street has appointed Robin Kidman to the newly created role of fixed income lending trader for Asia Pacific.
Kidman, previously the London-based fixed income lending trader for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has relocated to Sydney to take up the new role focusing on Asia Pacific instead.
Taking up his new duties this week, Kidman is responsible for enhancing State Street’s fixed income securities finance programme in the region, a company spokeswoman said. Previously, the coverage was managed broadly across the team.
In his new capacity, Kidman reports to Jason Wells, Hong Kong-based head of agency trading for securities finance for Asia Pacific. His former role will be filled internally in the next few weeks, the spokeswoman added.
SUMITOMO MITSUI TO SPLIT AM BUSINESS, NAMES EXECUTIVES
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings is splitting off its asset management operations from Sumitomo Trust Bank and placing it under group company Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management. It has named three executives under the newly integrated AM entity, with more appointments expected in July.
The split will take effect on October 1, subject to regulatory approval.
The goal of the restructuring is to strengthen the asset management business, which is positioned as a growth area for the Japanese group, the company said in a statement.
David Semaya has been named co-chairman of the asset management company. He was appointed adviser to the asset management firm in April, a spokeswoman for the Sumitomo Mitsui group told AsianInvestor.
Semaya was previously chairman of Nikko Asset Management; he left the asset manager on March 31, a Nikko AM spokesman told AsianInvestor. Yoichiro Iwama was appointed to fill his shoes as chairman of the firm's board, effective May 15, the spokesman said.
The second appointment is that of Hideki Hiraki, previously president of Sumitomo Trust AM; he will become co-chairman.
Yoshio Hishida will take over Hiraki’s role as president. Hishida is also currently executive officer of Sumi Trust Holdings and managing executive officer with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. Asked whether he would continue in those roles or be replaced, the spokeswoman said no decision had been taken.
The group said it would make further announcements in July on senior management officers as well as unveil full details of the new organisational structure.
The split of the asset management business from the bank and integration into the trust company will create an entity that will have total assets in excess of ¥60 trillion ($548 billion) and will be among the largest in scale in Japan.
BLACKROCK APAC STEWARDSHIP HEAD TO RETIRE
US Fund manager BlackRock’s head of Asia-Pacific investment stewardship, Pru Bennett, has announced her retirement from the firm, set for January 2019.
Bennett joined the fund house in 2010, overseeing governance efforts with companies in which BlackRock invests, particularly in the area of shareholder engagement policies. She also works with BlackRock’s active equity portfolio managers to develop and integrate environmental, social, and governance tools into their investment processes.
She will continue in her role until her retirement early next year. BlackRock is now searching for her successor.
BlackRock’s global investment stewardship team is 30-strong, including 10 in Asia-Pacific. The asset manager plans to double the size of its global team over the next three years, though BlackRock did not say how many it planned to add in Asia-Pacific.
SOCGEN APPOINTS COUNTRY HEAD FOR TAIWAN
Societe Generale has appointed Mark Liu as country head for Taiwan as the current incumbent is going to retire.
Subject to regulatory approval, Taipei-based Liu will take up the new role on June 1, ahead of the retirement of Godwin Chang on June 30.
He will continue as head of global markets for Taiwan alongside his new duties as country head. He will report to Hikaru Ogata, chief executive officer for Asia Pacific.
COLLIERS POACHES EXECUTIVE FROM RIVAL CBRE
Colliers International, a global real estate services company, has appointed Hugh Menck as executive director for capital markets and investment services for East China.
He officially joined the company on May 10, and reports to Betty Wong, national head for capital markets and investment services for China. Both of them are based in Shanghai.
Menck focuses on institutional capital investing and divesting in the Shanghai market, a company spokeswoman said. She declined to comment on who took on those duties before Menck joined.
Menck was previously the director for capital markets for CBRE, according to his LinkedIn profile. CBRE confirmed that he left the company “in April, on good terms”, but declined to comment further on his departure.
MUFG INVESTOR SERVICES RESHUFFLES MANAGEMENT
MUFG Investor Services, the global asset servicing arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, said Eiji Ihori would take on the role of interim chief executive officer on July 1.
Ihori had been with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB) for over 35 years and had overseen both its Japanese and global investor services businesses, according to its press release. MUFG declined to comment on what his most recent role was.
Ihori is replacing Mark Porter, who will become a non-executive director on the boards of both holding company MUFG Investor Services Holdings Limited and Mitsubishi UFJ Investor Services & Banking Luxembourg S.A.
Ihori will be supported by John Sergides, who will assume the role of deputy CEO alongside with his current New York-based role of head of sales and marketing. Mac Kirschner will be promoted to chief operating officer from the global head of relationship management, according to a release on its website.
MUFG declined to comment on why Porter was stepping into the advisory role and when the appointments become effective.
NORTHERN TRUST HIRES APAC HEAD OF CORPORATE & INSTITUTIONAL SALES
US asset management and servicing firm Northern Trust has appointed David Kim as head of sales for its corporate and institutional business in Asia-Pacific.
Kim oversees a team of sales managers from his base in Singapore, offering Northern Trust's asset servicing solutions to regional institutional investors and investment managers, according to a company statement.
He started on May 23, a Northern Trust spokesman said, and he reports to head of global sales Jon Dunham and head of Asia-Pacific William Mak.
Kim replaces Angelo Calvitto, who will start a new role as head of Northern Trust’s Australasia business on June 8.
Most recently, Kim was service executive and managing director at BNY Mellon in Boston. He left his role in February, a BNY Mellon spokeswoman said. A replacement has not been announced yet, and his former duties are being covered by the broader Americas asset servicing team, said the spokeswoman.
CARLYLE MAKES TWO SENIOR HIRES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
US alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has appointed Robby Winarta as managing director and Long Hoang as director to its Asia private equity platform.
Winarta and Hoang will join the firm’s senior leadership overseeing Indonesian and Vietnamese investment activities, respectively. Hoang will start his role on June 1, and Winarta will begin work on July 1.
Both executives will report to Greg Zeluck and Yang Xiang-Dong, co-heads of Carlyle’s Asia buyout team.
Most recently, Winarta was head of Indonesia investment banking coverage for Swiss bank Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse declined to comment on his exit date, and whether a replacement had been announced yet.
Winarta will be based in Jakarta while Hoang will work from Singapore.
Hoang was vice-president at US alternative asset firm TPG Capital Asia, covering the Singapore and Vietnam markets, prior to the appointment. His duties will be covered by his former team, a TPG spokeswoman said, and there are no plans at present to replace him. TPG declined to comment on Hoang’s exit date.
MAYBANK APPOINTS NEW CEOS FOR AM UNITS
Maybank Asset Management Group (MAMG), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malayan Banking Berhad, has appointed Badrul Hisyam Abu Bakar as chief executive officer, effective April 25.
Abu Bakar was previously chief executive officer of Maybank Asset Management.
He joined Maybank Asset Management in 2010 as chief investment officer and became the regional head of investment in late 2011, before assuming the position of chief executive in January 2014.
Ahmad Najib Nazlan will succeed Abu Bakar as chief executive officer of Maybank Asset Management. He was previously chief executive of Maybank Islamic Asset Management.
MAMG currently has presence in Malaysia through Maybank Asset Management and Maybank Islamic Asset Management; Maybank Asset Management Singapore (MAMS) in Singapore; and PT Maybank Asset Management in Indonesia.
MAMB did not respond to queries on who Abu Bakar would replace at MAMG, nor who would replace Nazlan in his previous roles.
COMPLIANCEASIA LAUNCHES SHANGHAI OFFICE
ComplianceAsia is launching its Shanghai office on June 21, its third in the Asia Pacific.
The office will be located in Shanghai Tower in the Pudong district.
Hong Kong-based managing director Alex Duperouzel, one of the co-owners and managing director at ComplianceAsia, will initially oversee the operations of the Shanghai office, while the firm finds a suitable local candidate, a spokeswoman for the firm told AsianInvestor.
The compliance consulting firm was established in 2003 with offices in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the past week: