New hires at CMG and CommServe

CMG Asia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank Group in Hong Kong, has hired David Wong as assistant general manager for distribution projects. In this newly created role, which reports to executive director Julia Wong, David Wong will develop and support sales-related initiatives for the firm's 1,200-member agency force.

He will also oversee a new recruitment and point-of-sales system the firm is preparing to deploy this summer. He was previously regional manager at AXA China Region where he led a 300-strong agency team.

The firm has also promoted Betty Lee, who has worked there since 1996, to run the actuarial and business planning department. She now reports to Sim Ng, CFO. She will support the firm's business and product development processes by designing business models and conducting studies and liability valuations, while ensuring that compliance and financial guidelines are met.

Another Commonwealth group subsidiary, CommServe Financial, a third-party pensions administrator in Hong Kong, has also announced two promotions. Lily Ng now oversees finance and compliance. She has been with the firm since 2002.

Annie Tong manages the operations of CommServe's pensions admin business, including MPF and ORSO schemes. CommServe has 275,000 customers in Hong Kong and administers funds and assets of HK$14 billion ($1.8 billion).

Australia-based Commonwealth Bank Group itself has also made a new hire in Hong Kong: Sandra Fan as regional legal counsel. She will be responsible for legal matters relating to the group's banking, insurance and funds management businesses in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. She reports to John O'Sullivan, the group's general counsel. Fan has practised at Slaughter and May and at White & Case in Hong Kong and New York.