Weekly roundup of people news, Oct 27
MAS ANNOUNCES SENIOR MANAGEMENT CHANGES
Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, has made a series of senior management changes, all of which are effective December 1.
Ho Hern Shin, executive director in the insurance department, will become assistant managing director for banking and insurance.
She will take over from Chua Kim Leng, who becomes special advisor (financial supervision group).
Loo Siew Yee, currently executive director (banking department I), will become assistant managing director for policy, risk and surveillance.
She will take over that role from Wong Nai Seng. Wong will leave MAS in early 2018 to pursue other interests.
MAS did not respond to queries on who would replace Ho and Loo in their previous roles.
MAS has also appointed Tan Yeow Seng to the newly created role of chief cybersecurity officer.
The new appointment is expected to play an important role in strengthening the cyber resiliency of MAS and the financial sector. Tan’s responsibilities will include setting cyber resiliency standards and overseeing their implementation.
He will also continue in his role as executive director in the technology risk and payments department.
INDOSUEZ WM MAKES FOUR APPOINTMENTS ACROSS HK AND SINGAPORE
Indosuez Wealth Management (Indoseuz WM) has appointed three senior relationship managers and one product specialist in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The three senior relationship managers are Andrew Cheng and Amy Yeung in Hong Kong, and Qays Koh in Singapore. Teresa Hui has been hired as a Hong Kong-based fixed income specialist.
The appointments are effective immediately on October 27. Indosuez WM did not respond to queries by press time on whether the appointments represent new roles or if the new hires are replacements.
Andrew Cheng is appointed as managing director and Amy Yeung as senior director at the wealth manager. Both report to Piera Au-Yeung, team head and deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong branch.
Both Cheng and Yeung previously worked at ANZ Private Bank in Hong Kong. ANZ Private Bank did not respond to AsianInvestor queries regarding Cheng and Yeung’s departures by press time.
Qays Koh is appointed as a director and reports to Michael Yeo, team head and senior director of the Singapore branch. Koh was previously a Singapore-based director at ABN Amro, which is now owned by LGT, according to his LinkedIn profile. LGT declined to comment on his departure.
Meanwhile, Teresa Hui is appointed as Hong Kong-based fixed income advisor, reporting to Arjan De Boer, head of markets and investments and structuring, Asia.
Hui was previously a Hong Kong-based director in the treasury and investment group at Edmond de Rothschild, according to her LinkedIn profile. Edmond de Rothschild did not reply to AsianInvestor’s query about her departure by press time.
CITI PRIVATE BANK ASIA CHIEF TO STEP DOWN
Citi Private Bank's Asia head Bassam Salem will retire in February 2018, while Stephen Lo, current Hong Kong market manager will succeed him effective February 1, according to an internal memo seen by AsianInvestor.
Lo (pictured) will be based in Hong Kong and report to Peter Charrington, Citi Private Bank's global head and Francisco Aristeguieta, Citi's Asia-Pacific chief executive. A new Hong Kong market manager will be appointed in due course, a spokesperson said.
An industry veteran with 30 years’ experiences, Salem took over as head of Citi Private Bank’s Asia unit in 2011. His first job with Citi started in 1985 in Geneva, and following that, he served as a banker and regional investments head in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific.
Salem also worked for EFG Bank for a decade to September 2011, where he was a partner and chief executive of Middle East and India, as well as investment head for Asia Pacific.
Lo joined Citi Private Bank 26 years ago as an ultra-high-net-worth banker in Vancouver, focusing on clients in North America and Asia. He later moved to Asia in 2001 and became the market manager for Thailand. He became Hong Kong market manager in 2010.
Salem will help Lo in the next few months to ease the transition, the internal memo said.
JP MORGAN PRIVATE BANK HIRES MANAGED SOLUTIONS EXPERT
JP Morgan Private Bank appointed Cynthia Lai as executive director of its managed soutions and portfolio management group in August.
Based in Singapore, she is responsible for leading the team specialising in mutual funds and discretionary portfolios across multi asset classes.
She replaces Lina Lim, who is now executive director of the private bank’s endowment and foundation group in Asia.
Lai joined from Standard Chartered Private Bank, where she was director for managed solutions advisory, responsible for advisory across mutual funds, hedge funds, discretionary portfolios and private equity as well as portfolio construction.
Standard Chartered declined to comment whether a replacement had been made.
Lai has also previously worked for Citibank.
DEUTSCHE BANK WM CREATES NEW ROLES TO SUPPORT ASIA GROWTH
German global banking and financial services firm Deutsche Bank Wealth Management has added two Singapore-based executives to its regional private markets and funds solutions groups.
Wee Teck Tay (pictured) has been named director and head of private markets Asia Pacific, and John Lilley (pictured, below) is director and funds solution specialist Asia Pacific.
Effective October 16, Tay is responsible for exploring private equity opportunities for private banking clients, according to a bank spokeswoman.
The role is a newly created position, and he reports to head of global products and solutions Asia Pacific Lavanya Chari and global head of private markets Michael Isikow.
Deutsche Bank WM declined to comment on coverage of regional private equity opportunities for private banking clients prior to Tay’s hiring.
Tay was most recently global head of private equity and real estate at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was also the bank’s director of global private equity, and a director at the Bank of Singapore.
Lilley started his newly created role at Deutsche Bank WM on September 25, and focuses on providing investment advisory solutions across the fund platform, the spokeswoman said.
Lilley will report to Joyce Ngan, head of funds solution Asia Pacific. Deutsche Bank WM declined to comment on coverage of funds solutions prior to Lilley’s hiring.
Lilley was most recently managing director and head of investments at multi-family office Taurus Family Office in Singapore, according to LinkedIn. He has also worked as portfolio advisor at multi-family office Infinity Partners, director and senior portfolio counsellor at Citi Private Bank, managing director or analytical operations at MMS International, director of analytical operations Asia Pacific at Standard and Poor’s Investment Services Group, and country manager and head analyst at Standard and Poor’s MMS Japan.
Taurus was unavailable for comment regarding Lilley's departure.
ALLIANZ GI NAMES ASIA-PACIFIC INSTITUTIONAL SOLUTIONS HEAD
Allianz Global Investors (Allianz GI) has hired an institutional solutions head for Asia Pacific.
Effective October 19, Philip Tso has joined Allianz GI as head of institutional solutions for Asia Pacific to maintain senior client relationships and to support various engagement efforts. He reports to Desmond Ng, head of Asia Pacific. Both are based in Hong Kong.
The asset manager said this was a newly created role, declining to say who was responsible for the duties now taken up by Tso before he comes on board.
Tso previously worked at Willis Towers Watson, where he had led the investment business in Hong Kong and Asia since 2008. His duties will be shared by the Asia leadership team and overseen by Jayne Bok, head of investments, Asia, according to a company spokesman.
HSBC PRIVATE BANK NAMES FIXED INCOME CHIEF FOR ASIA
HSBC Private Bank has appointed Jeffrey Yap to the newly created role of head of fixed income for Asia.
Based in Hong Kong, Yap will focus on building the fixed income business from high net worth and ultra-high net worthy clients in the region, the bank said.
He reports to Abdel Ben Tkhayet, regional head of structured products and fixed income, currency and commodities. Tkhayet was previously in charge of the responsibilities that Yap has taken, a bank spokesperson said.
Yap was previously managing director at Pacific Alliance Group.
A spokesman for PAG declined to comment on the departure.
CARLYLE RESHUFFLES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
Private equity firm Carlyle announced a reshuffle of its leadership on October 25, which will take effect on January 1.
Current co-chief executive officers David Rubenstein and William Conway will become co-executive chairmen of the board, while Kewsong Lee and Glenn Youngkin will succeed them in the co-CEO roles.
Lee is Carlyle’s deputy corporate private equity CIO and global market strategies head. Youngkin is president and chief operating officer.
Deputy corporate PE CIO and co-head of the US buyout group Peter Clare will become co-chief investment officer alongside current CIO William Conway.
Chairman Daniel D’Aniello will become chairman emeritus and continue to serve on the board.
KKR MAKES SENIOR HIRE IN AUSTRALIA
KKR will add a member in its Sydney office, as the firm seeks to reinforce presence in the Australian market, the company said in a statement.
David Lang, partner and founding member of private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management, will relocate from London to join KKR in February next year. Lang’s responsibilities at KKR will include originating new investment opportunities, developing relationships with companies and entrepreneurs, and managing KKR’s existing portfolio.
Before founding Pamplona in 2005, Lang also worked at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Pamplona didn’t get back to query about Lang’s replacement by press time.
BNP PARIBAS WM HIRES PRODUCT SPECIALIST
BNP Paribas Wealth Management (BNP Paribas WM) has hired a product specialist from Standard Chartered Bank.
Melissa Seng joined BNP Paribas WM as product specialist in the fund advisory team last month. She reports to Agnes Sng, regional head, investment funds advisory. Both of them are based in Singapore.
BNP Paribas WM declines to comment on whom Seng has replaced.
Seng was previously the director, fund select, wealth management at Standard Chartered private bank, a position she left in August. The company declined to comment on whether it had found Seng’s replacement yet.
STANCHART PRIVATE BANK HIRES FUND EXPERT
Standard Chartered Private Bank has named a new fund expert.
Arthur Wu joined the private bank as associate director, fund selection, wealth management last month. He reports to Dany Dupasquier, head, managed investments, wealth management. Both of them are based in Singapore.
The company declined to comment on whom Wu had replaced.
Wu was previously a senior analyst, manager research at Morningstar, which said that the company was now actively looking for Wu’s replacement.
HSBC MD JOINS ALTERNATIVES FIRM
Australian alternatives investment solutions firm Longreach Alternatives has appointed Sam Edwards as managing director.
Effective October 9, Edwards (pictured) will focus on executing the strategic growth plan for the business, a company spokesman said.
The newly created role is based in Sydney, and he reports to chief executive Samuel Mann, the spokesman added.
Most recently, Edwards was managing director and regional head of the alternative investment group, mutual funds and discretionary at HSBC in Hong Kong, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was also a private equity consultant at Broadline Capital and a portfolio manager at Evolution Capital Management.
HSBC declined to comment on the departure of Edwards.
CRESTONE WM TO REPLACE CIO
Australia-based Crestone Wealth Management has announced that Scott Haslem will become chief investment officer, replacing David Sokulsky effective January 2018.
Haslem was most recently managing director, chief economist and head of macro research for Australia and New Zealand at UBS.
He left the Swiss wealth manager in June, and was replaced by senior economist George Tharenou.
UBS hired Carlos Cachos, who joined in September from Colonial First State Global Asset Management as Australia economist.
Crestone WM, created following a management buyout of UBS Wealth Management Australia, provides wealth advice and portfolio management services to high-net-worth clients and family offices, not-for-profit organisations and financial institutions.
REED SMITH NAMES NEW PARTNER TO DEVELOP ASIA PRACTICE
Global law firm Reed Smith has appointed a new partner in the firm’s Singapore office, as it focuses on developing its practice in the Asia region.
Effective October 23, Bree Miechel has been named partner and projects and construction lawyer in the firm’s global energy and natural resources group, a company spokeswoman said.
Miechel will advise sponsors, lenders, government authorities, and contractors on various energy projects, including conventional and renewable power, energy efficiency, water and waste, oil and gas, transport, and infrastructure.
The Singapore-based role is newly created in order to grow in-region capability and further develop the practice in Asia, said the spokeswoman. Previously, projects and construction work in the region was carried out by specialist lawyers, particularly in Dubai and London, the spokeswoman added.
Miechel will report to global head of energy and natural resources Prajakt Samant.
Most recently, she was a projects lawyer and of counsel in Singapore for UK-based law firm Simmons & Simmons.
A Simmons & Simmons spokeswoman said Miechel’s responsibilities at the firm would be covered by the Singapore corporate team, supported by the wider Asia corporate practice. The firm declined to comment on her replacement.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the past week: