Northern Trust poaches SE Asia head from BNY Mellon

As part of its Asia-Pacific expansion, Chicago-based financial services group Northern Trust has created the post of Singapore country manager and head of Southeast Asia. William Mak, previously managing director for Southeast Asia at BNY Mellon Asset Management, took up the role on June 21.

Mak is responsible for the coordination of all business activities in Southeast Asia and reports to Teresa Parker, who moved to Singapore in October as Asia-Pacific chief executive. 

He has some 20 years of experience in financial services in Singapore. Before joining Bank of New York Mellon AM in Singapore in 2008, Mak had been general manager at ABN Amro/Mellon Asia Global Securities and managing director of the financial institutions group for Southeast Asia at BNP Paribas.

He started his career at the Monetary Authority of Singapore and held various posts during a 16-year tenure, including chief FX dealer, as well as roles in the liquidity and gold divisions.

"We are pleased to welcome William, a Singapore native with a wealth of experience in both government agencies and global financial firms, to lead our Singapore office and regional client-service teams," Parker says.

"Northern Trust is committed to continued growth in Asia-Pacific, and William's strong relationships and market knowledge in global custody, asset servicing and asset management make him a valuable leader in this region." She spoke to AsianInvestor about her regional plans in December. 

BNY Mellon AM says it will make an announcement in due course regarding a replacement for Mak.

Northern Trust provides investment management, asset and fund administration, banking solutions and fiduciary services for corporations, institutions and wealthy individuals. As of March 31, the firm had assets under custody of $3.7 trillion, and assets under investment management of $647.3 billion.