UBS Global AM hires for HK, Taiwan sales

UBS Global Asset Management has named Monita Chon as head of institutional business for Hong Kong and Taiwan in a move that centralises coverage of those markets in one location, say sources.

She joined this month from ING Investment Management and reports to Kai Sotorp, Asia-Pacific chief executive of UBS Global AM. Chon's arrival follows the hire of Michael Chen from US asset manager Invesco in January.

Chen now reports to Chon, with the two said to have taken on effectively newly created posts to look after Hong Kong and Taiwan. Previously Leong Mei-Yin had covered Taiwan institutions out of Singapore and Urs Raebsamen looked after Hong Kong institutions from Hong Kong.

Raebsamen is now a senior equity strategist at UBS Global AM in Hong Kong. AsianInvestor could not ascertain Leong's current role.

UBS declined to comment.

At ING IM, Chon had been head of institutional business development for North Asia since May 2010. Before that, she had been with Barclays Global Investors from 2001 to 2009, most recently running the Greater China institutional team. She has also worked for Fidelity Investments.

Chen, meanwhile, was previously a senior manager for Invesco’s institutional business in Hong Kong, a post he had held since July 2012. Before that he had been with Australian fund house AMP Capital since 2007. Invesco declined to comment on whether Chen has been or will be replaced.

ING IM’s Hong Kong office was wound down last year – as part of that process, headcount was reduced, and Chon will not be directly replaced. That said, Tan Lih-Yann remains head of institutional business development for Asia ex-Japan; as such, she will look after Chon's former clients.

There have been a steady stream of departures from ING IM in the past year or so, only some of whom have been replaced. Perhaps the most significant move was that of a 19-strong emerging-market debt team to US fund firm Neuberger Berman in April last year. ING has since brought in some EM debt specialists.

The failure of ING to sell its Asian investment and insurance franchises as a whole in 2012 forced it, in some cases, to divest businesses country by country, including splitting the insurance and investment operations. The mass sale was triggered by the group having to repay its €10 billion ($13.3 billion) bailout from the Dutch government during the 2008 financial crisis.

ING is preparing its European insurance and investment businesses for an initial public offering targeted for this year. The Hong Kong investment arm was not slated to be part of the IPO.