State Street replaces head of alts for Asia Pacific

State Street Corporation has transferred Bob Keogh to Hong Kong to become head of its alternative investment solutions (AIS) group for Asia Pacific.

Keogh, pictured below, started in the role yesterday and replaces Carol Hall, who left at the end of April this year for personal reasons, confirmed a State Street spokesman.

Previously senior managing director for the firm’s hedge fund servicing business based in Dublin, Keogh now assumes responsibility for the hedge fund, private equity and real estate businesses in Asia Pacific.

Bhagesh Malde, senior managing director for State Street’s AIS group, pointed to the growth of the firm’s alternative servicing business in the Asia region, without giving any figures.

“State Street’s recent global research shows that more capital has been flowing into alternative assets and this looks set to continue,” he said in a statement.

Malde noted that as the industry grows in size and complexity, so too institutional investors have become more sophisticated and demanding in their investments, allocating more to alternatives in an effort to diversify.

State Street has been building out its fund administration services platform in the region, including to alts firms, having opened a new office in Shanghai late last year, as reported. It also pledged to hire more people.

In addition to targeting Asia-based hedge funds, private equity funds and real estate managers, it also seeks to support global fund managers looking to expand into the region.

While State Street has offered fund administration services in Asia for several years, it is a relative newcomer to alternatives administration, having entered the space via its acquisition of Jersey-based Mourant International Finance Administration in April 2010.

Keogh joined State Street from Goldman Sachs, as part of State Street’s acquisition of Goldman’s hedge fund administration arm (Goldman Sachs Administration Services) in June 2012.

Prior to that he was head of GSAS’s business in Europe and Asia, where he established offices in Ireland, Hong Kong and Singapore.