Northern Trust adds senior institutional RM in Hong Kong

Yukie Tung has joined Northern Trust Global Investments as a relationship manager for institutional clients as the firm continues its regional build-out, AsianInvestor can confirm.

Having formerly worked for BEA Union Investment, Tung started this month in Hong Kong and reports to Kevin Hardy, managing director of asset management in Asia-Pacific and country head for Hong Kong.

She effectively comes in to replace Jackie Mak, who left Northern Trust earlier this year to join Guernsey-based asset manager E.I. Sturdza.

Mak’s departure is understood to have prompted a restructuring of the Hong Kong team at Northern Trust. Tung comes in as a senior replacement, and further hires are anticipated.

Earlier in the year Northern Trust Global Investments lost its Hong Kong-based head of sales and client service for Asia-Pacific, Fifi Ting, who left to spend time with her family. The firm said at the time there were no plans to replace Ting and that her responsibilities would be shared.

Recruiters confirm that the US firm, which only received a type-9 asset management licence from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commissions in September, has been one of the busier houses on the street. Further clarity on broader strategy is expected by the end of the first quarter next year.

Hardy declined to comment when contacted by AsianInvestor. But previously he has raised the possibility that Northern Trust is looking to set up at another location in Asia outside of its regional offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Bangalore.

Northern Trust has also set out its stall to offer portfolio management for equity indexing as well as in-house equity dealing from its Hong Kong office.

Tung previously worked as head of institutional business for BEA Union based in Hong Kong, but left the firm in January. A spokesperson for BEA Union declined to comment on whether Tung has been replaced. A search is understood to be in progress.

Mak is responsible for developing distribution strategy for E.I. Sturdza, which manages a number of open-ended funds for institutions, high-net-worth individuals and family offices.

The firm recently applied for regulatory approval to carry out marketing activities in Hong Kong as a step towards establishing a subsidiary office in the city.