Weekly roundup of people news, Sept 8
PICTET WM POACHES CIO FROM RIVAL EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD AM
Pictet Wealth Management has hired a new Asia chief investment officer from Swiss peer Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, after the position was left vacant for a year.
Effective August 1, David Gaud was appointed CIO for Asia. Based in Singapore, Gaud oversees investment strategies for Asian private clients. He reports to Cesar Perez Ruiz, Geneva-based global CIO of Pictet Wealth Management.
Gaud replaces Bhaskar Laxminarayan, who left Pictet in September last year to join Julius Baer as its Asia CIO. Perez Ruiz had assumed the role of Asia CIO during the period.
Gaud was previously the Hong Kong-based head of emerging markets equity at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management and left the role in July, according to his LinkedIn profile. Edmond de Rothschild AM did not reply to AsianInvestor's email query by press time.
AVANDA IM HIRES MANAGER SELECTION EXECUTIVE
Avanda Investment Management, the Singapore-based firm set up by former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song, has hired a portfolio manager for external managers.
Andrew Chan joined Avanda last month from UK-based investment firm Partners Capital, for which he had worked in Singapore.
Avanda declined to provide details of his responsibilities or the date he started in the role.
He had been responsible for the sourcing and due diligence of Asian investments at Partners Capital, according to his LinkedIn page. The firm allocates to private debt, private equity, venture capital and hedge funds.
At Partners, Chan helped to manage $4 billion of global hedge fund assets and $1 billion of multi-asset class Asian investments, out of total AUM of $21 billion. He had been there for nearly seven years, most recently in Singapore and before that in Hong Kong and London.
Before joining Partners, Chan worked for Barclays Wealth and RREEF, Deutsche Bank’s real estate investment arm.
HSBC Private Bank’s head of global private banking for Southeast Asia, Sandeep Sharma, has left the bank.
HSBC has identified an experienced successor and will share more details in due course, a spokesperson said, but declined to share other details.
Sharma reported to HSBC Singapore’s chief executive officer, Tony Cripps and Asia-Pacific head of global private banking, Tan Siew-Meng.
Sharma had served as co-head of HSBC private bank Southeast Asia along with Rob Ioannou since 2014. Ioannou moved to DBS to as head of international for private bank in July 2016, with Sharma taking over sole responsibility for the role.
Sharma joined HSBC in 2010 as business head for the Indian sub-continent team. Prior to joining HSBC he held senior positions at Barclays Wealth Singapore and Societe Generale Private Bank.
GOLDMAN SACHS SINGAPORE APPOINTS NEW CEO
Goldman Sachs Singapore has named a new chief executive officer after the previous one retired.
Jason Moo took over as CEO of Goldman Sachs Singapore in August. He will continue to serve as regional manager for South East Asia and Australia for Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management, a role he held since 2014, according to a spokesman.
Frederick Towfigh, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs Singapore, retired in April and is now an advisory director at the firm.
UBP NAMES NEW HONG KONG MARKET HEAD FROM STANCHART
Union Bancaire Privée has hired a market head for Hong Kong from Standard Chartered Private Bank.
Starting in early September, Ushe Koh is managing director and market head for Hong Kong at the Swiss private bank. He reports to Eric Morin, Hong Kong-based head of North Asia. UBP declined to comment further on the new appointment.
T. Rowe Price has named new heads for its retail and institutional investors businesses in Japan.
The US fund house has appointed Kuniaki Doi as head of retail business and Yasuo Miyajima as head of institutional investors business. Both started work in early September, are based in Tokyo and report to Naoyuki Honda, representative, head of Japan business.
These are newly created roles. Before Doi and Miyajima joined T. Rowe Price, Honda oversaw the institutional investors business while Hiroaki Endo, relationship manager, intermediary business, oversaw the retail business, according to a spokesman.
T. Rowe Price’s sales division in Japan consists of 10 members now, he added.
Doi was formerly managing director and head of the third party distribution team at Goldman Sachs Asset Management in Japan, a Goldman Sachs spokesman said, declining to comment further.
Miyajima previously worked at Prudential Investment Management Japan, which declined to comment on his departure.
CBRE has appointed Craig Hudleston as head of asset services for Asia Pacific, effective on September 6. Hudleston replaces Andrew Nicholson who left the firm in August, a spokesperson said.
CBRE Asset Services manages commercial, retail, industrial and hospitality property assets.
Hudleston will transition to his new position from his current role as chief operating officer of CBRE Japan, and relocate to Hong Kong later this year, from Tokyo. The company hasn’t announced who will take over the Japan COO role.
Prior to serving as COO for CBRE’s Japan business, Hudleston held senior roles for the firm in asset services, global workplace solutions and project management. He joined CBRE in 2007 in Japan.
BANKERBAY LAUNCHES CHINA OPERATIONS
BankerBay, a New York-headquartered investment banking platform that connects corporate deals with institutional providers of capital, announced on September 7 that it had launched operations in China, having opened a new office in Shanghai and appointed Pin Li as its China chief executive.
Li told AsianInvestor that the firm now had staff in Shanghai in supporting functions such as administration and finance, and wants to build a local technical team in the next six months. Eventually it plans to have a fully functional team in China and is now actively seeking talented recruits, Li added.
BankerBay focuses on middle-market investment opportunities, with deals worth between $10 million and $200 million. It also has offices in Bangalore, London and Singapore.
Li was head of capital markets in China for GE Capital until 2014. Li said she had worked in the investment consulting field prior to committing full time to BankerBay in late 2016.
BNP PARIBAS AM APPOINTS DEPUTY CEO FOR ASIA
BNP Paribas Asset Management has appointed Rakesh Vengayil as deputy chief executive officer Asia Pacific, effective September 1.
In addition to the newly created deputy CEO role, he takes over as Hong Kong CEO from Tino Moorrees, who is expected to leave in November. BNP Paribas AM said Moorrees had decided to pursue opportunities outside the company.
Vengayil reports to Hong Kong-based Ligia Torres, CEO Asia-Pacific for BNP Paribas AM.
Vengayil was previously chief operating officer for Asia Pacific and emerging markets at BNP Paribas Asset Management and based in London.
There is no direct replacement for Vengayil but Suneej Kidangan, who has been Asia-Pacific COO based in Hong Kong since 2014, is expected to take on some of the functions.
A spokeswoman said the decision to create the deputy CEO role in Asia was due to the group’s long-term plan for the region, with Vengayil expected to help Torres with strategic initiatives as well as day to day operations.
Vengayil joined BNP Paribas group in India in 1998.
CROSSINVEST APPOINTS HEAD OF INVESTMENTS
Independent asset manager Crossinvest has appointed Gary Tiernan as head of investments, based in Singapore.
Tiernan will be responsible for a suite of investment services and work towards further strengthening the firm’s investment proposition.
This is a newly created role and marks an expansion of the investment team. Members of the investment team shared the responsibilities of this role earlier, according to a spokesman.
Tiernan was previously head of sales and segment management at Standard Chartered Private Bank. He left the bank in December 2015.
This team has since been rebranded as the business and segment management team, which has been led by Jonathan Da Silva since August 2016.
Tiernan has also previously worked with Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management.
A Crossinvest spokesperson declined to comment on when Tiernan joined the firm.
BANK OF SINGAPORE NAMES HEAD OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT GROUP FOR HONG KONG
Bank of Singapore has appointed Angel Wu as head of product management group, Hong Kong, effective September 5.
She was previously with ABN Amro Private Banking as regional head for products and solutions – Asia.
ABN Amro's private banking franchise in Asia and the Middle East was acquired by LGT late last year.
LGT declined to comment on Wu’s departure. Bank of Singapore did not comment on whether Wu’s role is new or an existing role.
SYNPULSE HIRES FORMER STANCHART GLOBAL PRIVATE BANKING HEAD
Management consultant Synpulse has appointed Michael Benz as senior adviser in Hong Kong, effective September 1.
The company said this was a new role aimed at strengthening the North Asian management team, especially the company’s private banking and wealth management business.
Benz was previously global head of private banking at Standard Chartered, a role he left in December 2015.
In March 2016, Didier von Daeniken took over as global head, private banking and wealth management at the bank.
Benz has also worked previously with Julius Baer and UBS.
Synpulse has 100 consultants across Hong Kong and Singapore.
INDOSUEZ WM LOSES ASIA HEAD OF INVESTMENT FUNDS
Indosuez Wealth Management’s head of investment funds for Asia, Hakim Naji, has left the firm.
Based in Singapore Naji joined the French firm in 2010 as senior investment adviser.
He was promoted to head of investment funds in January 2016 to oversee mutual funds and hedge funds.
Indosuez declined to comment on the departure or whether a replacement had been named.
LOMBARD ODIER ASIA CHAIRMAN TO JOIN CANADIAN IAM
Lombard Odier’s Vincent Duhamel will join Canadian independent asset manager Fiera Capital on November 14 as its global president and chief operating officer.
Duhamel was previously Asia chairman of subsidiary operations at Lombard Odier, based in Hong Kong.
He will relocate to Montreal for the new role.
Duhamel succeeds Sylvain Brosseau, who resigned in April and remains on the board of directors, according to a Fiera spokesperson.
Jean-Guy Desjardins, Fiera’s chief executive officer, acted as interim COO prior to Duhamel’s appointment, the spokesperson said.
Duhamel will oversee Fiera’s development outside of North America, as well as distribution operations, legal and compliance, risk, technology, corporate communications, investor relations, and human resources.
He has also previously worked with hedge fund sponsor SAIL Advisors, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and State Street Global Advisors in Hong Kong.
Vincent Magnenat, CEO Asia Pacific, will continue to run Lombard Odier’s Asia business, a spokesperson for the group said.
ZURICH INSURANCE NAMES INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS HEAD
Zurich Insurance Group has appointed Peter Huber chief executive officer of Zurich International.
Huber will head the group’s international life businesses, covering the Isle of Man, the Middle East, and Zurich International Corporate Solutions.
He replaces Clive Baker, who leaves Zurich International Life after five years as chief executive.
Huber will report to Patrick Manley, CEO of Zurich Insurance and Europe, Middle East & Africa.
Huber was most recently the chief executive of Zurich Topas Life Indonesia. He has also worked with Zurich Life in Singapore, Swiss Re in Switzerland and Allianz Asia-Pacific in Singapore.
The company was unable to respond to queries from AsianInvestor before press time.
Reporting by Jolie Ho, Christina Wang, Indira Vergis, Ernest Chan and Joe Marsh
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