Weekly roundup of people news, Mar 7
Nomura AM, Instinet shuffle CEOs
Japan’s Nomura Asset Management has named Kunio Watanabe as chief executive to replace Toshihiro Iwasaki in a group-wide reshuffle also incorporating the bank, effective April 1.
Watanabe is currently head of overseas clients, a post he has held since April last year. Before that, he oversaw the retail business.
Fumiki Kondo, current CEO of Nomura agency execution arm Instinet based in New York, will relocate to Tokyo to replace Watanabe.
Jonathan Kellner, head of Instinet’s Americas business, will succeed Kondo. Kellner joined Nomura in 2003, and moved to Instinet in 2007 after its acquisition by the Japanese bank that year.
He has also worked in various senior trading and technology positions at agency broker ITG, financial services firm Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley.
BEA Union hires CIO to replace Schoeppl-Jost
Hong Kong-based BEA Union Investment Management has appointed Henry Chan as chief investment officer to replace Elke Schoeppl-Jost, who became Asia CIO at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management in January.
It has also promoted Pheona Tsang to head of fixed income, reporting to Chan. Tsang replaces Henry Wong, who has left the company to pursue other opportunities.
Chan will lead a 14-member investment team, comprising portfolio managers, research and quantitative analysts, and traders covering both equities and fixed income investments. He will report directly to chief executive Eleanor Wan.
Chan joins from Pyramis, where he was a portfolio manager. Before that, he was head of Asia-Pacific investment at Baring Asset Management.
Pyramis says portfolio manager Eileen Dibb has assumed lead portfolio manager responsibilities for the strategies and funds previously managed by Chan.
RBC WM hires ex-Credit Suisse executive
Canada’s RBC Wealth Management hired Stefan Mueller as head of investments and products for Asia earlier this month.
Based in Singapore, he reports to Maarten Jansen, head of investments and products for emerging markets, and Andrew Turczyniak, head of wealth management for emerging markets and Asia.
Mueller was most recently its head of product management for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse. He succeeds Mary Sumners, who is returning to the US to as head of international wealth for the US.
The role is understood to have been filled internally by Rajesh Manwani, Singapore-based head of products and advisory for Southeast Asia. Credit Suisse declined to comment.
Credit Suisse appoints Malaysia market leader
Credit Suisse has named Marcus Slöör as Malaysia market leader for private banking. Based in Singapore, he reports to Claudio de Sanctis, market area head for Southeast Asia.
In Slöör’s new role, effective February 1, he oversees a team of private bankers in Singapore focusing on Malaysian private clients.
He was previously Nordics head at UBS Wealth Management based in Zurich. He replaces Jimmy Lee, who has been appointed as one of the Greater China market leaders for Credit Suisse Private Banking, based in Hong Kong.
KKR expands energy and infrastructure team
US private equity group KKR has expanded its infrastructure and energy team into Asia with two appointments.
Tony Schultz joins as managing director in Sydney, a new position within the firm, while Ash Upadhyaya, currently a director on the team in the US, will relocate to Singapore.
This is the first time KKR’s infrastructure and energy division has had a physical presence in the region, with Asia previously covered out of the US.
Schultz was formerly managing director in Sydney at US-based EIG Global Energy Partners, where he focused on energy, metals and mining investments in Asia.
Upadhyaya joined KKR in 2011, before which he was a senior associate at Natural Gas Partners, with oversight of energy investments.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor.net this week: