Philip Li leaves Value Partners as exodus continues
Hong Kong-based fund house Value Partners has lost another senior executive in the wake of its recent management reshuffle and heavy turnover of the past two years, further denting its client coverage, AsianInvestor can reveal.
Philip Li, senior fund manager at Value Partners, has left the fund house. His licence with the Securities and Futures Commission ended on August 10. His LinkedIn profile shows he had been with the fund house for almost a decade.
Value Partners declined to comment on his departure and whether his role would be filled by someone else.
Li is set to join US-based fund house Wellington Management, two sources familiar with the situation told AsianInvestor. The firm did not immediately respond to queries about the appointment.
The first source said Li was more an investment specialist or product specialist at Value Partners, arranging meetings, interviews and roundtables with clients.
His role was more like that of a client portfolio manager than one of actually managing a fund and he is set take on a similar role at Wellington, the second source said.
Wellington declined to comment on the hire while Li could not be reached for comment.
UPHEAVAL
Li’s exit continues the years of upheaval that started with a shakeup after Au King Lun arrived as chief executive in December 2016.
These departures come after the company’s net profit plunged 89% in 2018 to HK$230 million ($29.3 million), according to its annual results announced in March.
Sales head Eric Poon left Value Partners in January just a year after joining. He replaced Wayne Shum, who had only spent some nine months at Value Partners after being hired in May 2017.
Both Poon and Shum are institutional business specialists – having headed that area of coverage at their previous fund firms Barings and BOCHK Asset Management, respectively.
Two other sales executives have also left Value Partners since then. Associate director Yuan Boa and manager Sam Lo moved on in late March and early April, respectively.
Most recently, Au stepped down as CEO and executive director and became president in the senior management team, a member of the leadership committee and the chairman of the risk management committee. He is responsible for the group’s corporate affairs, Value Partners said in a statement earlier this month.
Norman Ho, senior investment director and a 25-year veteran of the firm, re-joined the board as an executive director. As such, he will provide guidance on matters of strategy and operations, a statement said.
The CEO function will “in the meantime” be carried out by the leadership committee. This is currently comprised of Au, company founder Cheah Cheng Hye and Louis So (the latter two of whom are both co-chairman and co-chief investment officers). Cheah and So became co-chairmen and co-CIOs in April this year.
*Joe Marsh contributed to this story.