Fidelity names Lindman as Asia chief

UK asset manager Fidelity is rebuilding its Asia management team, after the exit of Asia-Pacific president Brett Goodin in May and Asia-Pacific managing director Chris Ryan in October.

Arne Lindman, whose departure from UK financial group Prudential was reported by AsianInvestor yesterday, will join Fidelity as Asia-Pacific president and chief executive in Hong Kong on April 19. It will be down to him to decide whether to replace Ryan and, if so, who will take up the role, says spokeswoman Megan Aitken.

Reporting to vice chairman Barry Bateman, Lindman will be responsible for the company's 1,000 employees in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

Since Goodin's departure, Thomas Balk, president of Fidelity Japan, had served as interim Asia-Pacific president, and he will continue to manage the business until Lindman starts.

Replacing Lindman is Graham Mason, chief executive and co-chief investment officer of Prudential Portfolio Managers South Africa, who will relocate from Cape Town to Hong Kong,

With 20 years' experience in asset management, Lindman has been chief executive of Prudential's Asian asset management business since May 2008, and before that he was CEO of ABN Amro's Asian asset management business.

He spent the first half of his career as an investor, initially as a portfolio manager and then chief investment officer. He has worked in London, Stockholm, New York and, for the past five years, in Hong Kong.