Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 18
Eastspring appoints CIO
Eastspring Investments, the Asian investment arm of UK insurance firm Prudential, has appointed Virginie Maisonneuve as chief investment officer. She will assume responsibilities on January 11 from Guy Strapp, currently both chief executive and CIO.
“Due to the growth in the business, it was decided that now was the time to appoint a senior investment professional who will focus solely on managing the firm’s investments,” said a company spokesperson.
Maisonneuve joined from US asset manager Pimco, where she was CIO of equities, based in London. She will relocate to Singapore next year and report to Strapp. Pimco did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Maisonneuve will oversee all investments, including equity, fixed income, asset allocation, private equity and infrastructure.
She has around 30 years of industry experience, including as head of global equities for 10 years at Schroder Investment Management and as portfolio manager at Clay Finlay, State Street Research, Batterymarch and Martin Currie.
Ex-UBS trio sets up HK investment firm
Three former UBS Wealth Management executives have founded Lioncrest Global, a Hong Kong-based investment and advisory firm that started operations on November 11.
They are Peter Tung, former Greater China head of ultra high-net-worth at UBS; Valerie Chou, former Asia-Pacific head of the global family office division at UBS WM; and Johan Riddergard, former head of the chief executive’s office for wealth management Asia Pacific.
Lioncrest will target institutions, family offices and high-net-worth families and individuals and focus on absolute return, the company said in a statement.
Tung (pictured right) left UBS in May 2015. Amy Lo, UBS’s Greater China head of wealth management, effectively assumed his responsibilities.
Based in Hong Kong, Tung has been an adviser to the board at Hong Kong-based investment manager Fountainhead Partners since June 2015. He also worked as country manager for the Philippines and Taiwan at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management before joining UBS.
Chou left UBS in November 2015. Her duties have been spread between Enrico Mattoli, Greater China head of global family office and Patricia Quek, Southeast Asia head of global family office. Chou has been an independent investor since leaving UBS. She has also worked as a managing director at Morgan Stanley PWM.
Riddergard exited UBS in February 2015. The Asia-Pacific president’s office has undergone a reorganisation since Kathryn Shih took over as regional president in January 2016. Matteo Bernardis, chief of staff for the Asia-Pacific president’s office, now manages Shih’s office.
After leaving UBS Riddergard set up his own consulting business, Riddergard & Partners. Riddergard has also worked as a regional business development officer in Hong Kong at Switzerland-headquartered Winterthur Life.
HSBC launches private banking arm in Australia
HSBC has set up an onshore private banking business in Australia and Hayden Matthews, market head for international and Australasia for private banking, will move to Sydney from Singapore to head it. Dominic Lane, market head of international, has succeeded Matthews.
HSBC's Australia launch comes at a time when other foreign banks have been pulling out of onshore wealth management business there amid rising costs and more stringent reguations in the industry. Deutsche Bank closed its local wealth arm in September, while UBS did the same last year and Goldman Sachs is selling its onshore business.
“Australia is a priority growth market for HSBC, and having a private bank office here will complement and enhance our existing retail, commercial and investment banking businesses," said Tony Cripps, chief executive of HSBC Australia, in a statement.
Matthews brings 18 years of private banking experience to the role, including stints at JP Morgan Private Bank in Singapore and at Deutsche Private Wealth Management in Singapore and Australia.
An HSBC spokeswoman said: "At this early stage, we’re starting with a few people in Sydney, who will be supported by the private banking teams in Hong Kong and Singapore."
Deutsche Bank appoints new head gatekeeper
Deutsche Bank Wealth Management has promoted Joyce Ngan to Asia-Pacific head of funds solution for global products and solutions. She replaces Karen Tan, who left on November 15 after a decade with the firm.
Singapore-based Ngan was previously director of global product advisory for managed investment, reporting to Tan.
Tan is the latest in a string of senior departures at Deutsche Bank WM. Its Asia-Pacific chief, Ravi Raju, left in October to join UBS in an as-yet-unspecified role. Anurag Mahesh, previously global head of key client partners, also left last month. Deutsche Bank has appointed Lok Yim, former head of wealth management for North Asia, to replace Raju.
The embattled firm faces major concerns over its capital position as it may be fined up to $14 billion by the US Department of Justice to settle mortgage securities probes stemming from the 2008 financial crisis.
Schroders names fixed income trading head
Schroder Investment Management has hired Wong Sok-Mun from US fund manager Tudor Capital as its first Asia head of fixed income and foreign exchange trading, effective October 31.
She is based in Singapore and reports to London-based Robbie Boukhoufane, global head of fixed income and foreign exchange trading.
Wong (pictured left) takes up a newly created role. Schroders has been working on a global platform for the fixed income and FX trading, and her appointment completes its key regions of focus London, New York and Singapore.
Equity, fixed income and FX trading in Asia were previously run by a single team led by Jacqueline Loh, Singapore-based head of trading for Asia. Schroders did not comment on which individuals had traded fixed income and FX under Loh.
At Tudor, Wong was global macro trader and head of the Singapore execution team. Tudor did not respond to a request for comment by press time. She has also worked at US hedge fund firm The Rohatyn Group, ABN Amro Private Bank and Black River Asset Management.
PineBridge appoints first Asia COO
PineBridge Investments has hired Jennifer Theunissen from Deutsche Asset Management as chief operating officer for Asia. Based in Hong Kong, she reports to New York-based global COO Julian Sluyters and Hong Kong-based Asia chief executive Rajeev Mittal.
This is a newly created role for the region to support the growth of the business in Asia. PineBridge's regional assets under management grew 54% to $43.8 billion between September 2013 and September 2016, according to AsianInvestor data.
Theunissen (pictured right) will coordinate compliance, finance, operations, product management and development, and technology functions across the region. This was previously part of Sluyters’ remit.
Theunissen was Asia-Pacific COO at Deutsche AM. Deutsche declines to comment on the departure. She has also worked at Aberdeen Asset Management and Credit Suisse.
Friends Provident replaces sales director
Friends Provident International has hired Kevin Stone as regional sales director in Singapore, according to his LinkedIn page, following the departure of Toby Simpson from the role earlier this month. FPI declined to confirm the hire or provide more detail.
The appointment continues the firm's restructuring after its acquisition by fellow UK insurer Aviva this year.
Before joining FPI, Stone was based in Sydney as a consultant to financial advisory and distribution businesses since January 2016. He used to work at Charter Financial Planning, part of AMP's financial advice network in Sydney, and for French insurer Axa in the UK and Australia.
Pimco adds to retail team in Singapore
US fund house Pimco has appointed Alice Lo as vice president and account manager in its global wealth management team in Singapore. Effective on November 1, she reports to Freida Tay, head of retail for Singapore.
Lo was most recently with NN Investment Partners as Singapore-based vice president for wholesale business development for Asia ex-Japan, and left the firm last month. NNIP didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time. Lo has also worked at Eastspring Investments.
She is an addition to the team, as Pimco is increasing its focus on the retail segment in Asia through intermediaries in Hong Kong and Singapore. Steve Chiu joined as head of retail for Hong Kong from Manulife Asset Management in September and Stacie Wang in August as head of China for global wealth management from Goldman Sachs.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:
Capital Group expands HK team and fund range