Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 15
BNP Paribas IP poaches BlackRock executive
BNP Paribas Investment Partners has hired Tan Puay-Lit, formerly of BlackRock, as Asia-Pacific head of official institutions and deputy CEO for Singapore, effective November 7.
In addition to his regional responsibilities, Tan oversees the firm’s Southeast Asian institutional business. He reports to TF Cheng, Asia-Pacific head of institutional business development.
Daryl Ee, former deputy CEO in Singapore, left in September to pursue other opportunities. Ee held role from January to September, according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously spent nearly six years in the institutional and alternative sales unit.
Tan spent five-and-a-half years as BlackRock’s director of institutional client business in Singapore. Before that, he worked at Barclays Global Investors (before it became part of BlackRock) for nearly two years as a client director, also in the Lion City.
He has also worked for Singapore’s GIC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
BlackRock has not replaced Tan, who left the firm in November. The institutional business has absorbed his duties, says a spokesman.
Crédit Agricole hires BoA-ML head
Crédit Agricole Private Banking has hired Hans Diederen as chief executive of its wealth management business in Asia.
Diederen has been working in the bank’s Singapore office since September, although his term officially began on November 1. He replaces Georges Zecchin, who held the position from June 2010 until May this year, when he left to pursue other interests. AsianInvestor could not ascertain Zecchin’s whereabouts by press time.
Diederen previously worked at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in Singapore, where he was Southeast Asia head of wealth management until August 2012, when Swiss private bank Julius Baer purchased BoA-ML’s wealth management arm for SFr864 million ($941.6 million). Diederen joined Julius Baer as part of the acquisition, taking on the role of Singapore chief operating officer, but left in mid-August this year. Julius Baer declined to comment on whether he’s been replaced.
Previously Diederen was Asia CEO of private banking at ABN Amro, first in Hong Kong from 2009-2010 and then in Singapore in 2011.
Credit Agricole also hired Patrick Ramsay on November 1 as head of the private client division, based in Switzerland. He will oversee the firm’s global private banking client teams in Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. He reports directly to Hervé Catala, CEO of Crédit Agricole Suisse. Diederen reports to Ramsay.
Ramsay previously worked at Barclays Bank as head of wealth management in Switzerland and before that as CEO of Merrill Lynch Bank (Switzerland).
Julius Baer moves into new HK office
Julius Baer has relocated most of its staff into Merrill Lynch’s former international wealth management office in Hong Kong about a year after it announced plans to acquire the US bank’s WM unit.
The new office, which will serve as the private bank’s North Asia headquarters, is located at One International Finance Centre in the city’s Central district. Previously Julius Baer was based at Two Exchange Square, also in Central.
There is still an unspecified number of Julius Baer employees at Exchange Square, which will eventually solely be used as the back office of the bank, a spokeswoman says.
She declined to offer a headcount of how many former Merrill Lynch employees will join Julius Baer. The Swiss bank spent SFr864 million ($941.6 million) to acquire Merrill Lynch’s wealth management group.
BNY Mellon launches new business in Japan
BNY Mellon rolled out an Asia-Pacific capital markets business in Tokyo on November 1. This will allow the US firm to provide dealing services across fixed income and equities for institutional clients in Japan and across the region.
The company has hired nine broker-dealer and capital markets specialists in total in Tokyo. The new team is overseen by Eiichiro Masaki, who took on the role of head of Japan capital markets sales in April. He reports to Kazuma Yamashita, head of Japan global markets sales.
Masaki joined from Société Générale, where he was head of non-yen fixed income flow sales. An SG spokeswoman declined to comment on whether Masaki has been replaced.
BNY Mellon is split into two divisions – investment services and investment management – with the new business falling within the former group. It has similar capital markets groups in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei.
SFC appoints non-exec directors
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has appointed Mary Ma Xuezheng a non-executive director. She replaces Hon Chan Kam-lam, who is leaving his post after six years.
The city’s securities regulator also re-appointed Lawrence Lee Kam-hung as a non-executive director, who was first appointed in November 15, 2009.
Ma is chairman of Boyu Capital Advisory Company and Lee is chairman of the Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Korea offices of Baker and McKenzie, according to media reports.
Both start their two-year terms on November 15.
Aussie superannuation services firm opens in Perth
State Super Financial Services (SSFS), a Sydney-based public-sector financial advisory firm, opened an office in Perth on November 13. It is its first in Western Australia.
Scott Phillips, state manager for SSFS in Western Australia, will oversee the 10-strong office. He joined from Bank of South Australia, where he was head of financial planning for five months. Before that, he spent 22 years at Westpac as a general manager of commercial banking in Perth.
SSFS has 18 offices across the country, including the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor this week:
Manulife buys Malaysian fund house
Gender equality steadily growing in private equity