Weekly roundup of job-hoppers, Apr 12
BlackRock hires Asia-Pac head of iShares capital markets
US fund manager BlackRock has hired Susan Chan as Asia-Pacific head of iShares capital markets based in Hong Kong, effective from mid-July this year.
Filling a role left vacant since late 2011, Chan will lead the firm’s iShares capital markets and product strategy teams across Asia Pacific, which is over 10-strong.
She is joining from Deutsche Bank, where most recently she was Asia-Pacific head of equity structuring group and DBx, the bank’s exchange-traded products subsidiary.
Chan has also worked as head of equity and fund structured markets for Asia at Barclays Capital and managing director for the equity derivatives group at Bear Sterns.
Reporting to Jane Leung, head of iShares Asia Pacific, Chan will be responsible for developing and maintaining liquidity within the firm’s ETF range with capital markets partners such as broker dealers and exchanges.
She succeeds Joe Cavatoni, who moved to New York in late 2011 to take up a new position running iShares capital markets relationships for the Americas. Soon after Joe Zhou, a vice-president between September 2010 and December 2011, also left.
Asked whether the business was scaled back, Leung says: “It would not be correct to say we have scaled back in this area as it takes time to search for the right leader to propel the business forward.”
In the interim, Leung herself has overseen iShares’ Asia-Pacific capital markets team. The iShares business saw a changing of the guard in February last year as Leung succeeded Nick Good, who became head of strategy and business development for Asia Pacific, as reported.
It is understood Chan is leaving on friendly terms and that a replacement for her has yet to be found, although Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
The German bank merged its asset- and wealth-management arms last September as a cost-cutting measure and has seen a slew of departures since.
BNY Mellon IM adds Japan equities team
US-based asset manager BNY Mellon Investment Management has acquired a six-strong equity team from ING Investment Management.
This team is led by Miyuki Kashima, who started on April 1 as head of equities investment for Japan based in Tokyo. She joins with five others whom BNY Mellon declines to name, including investment managers, analysts and a trader. The team is expected to be up and running by July 1.
Kashima reports locally to Shizu Kishimoto, BNY Mellon IM’s representative director and president of its Japanese asset management arm, and functionally to Alan Harden, Asia-Pacific CEO of the investment management business.
Harden was previously Asia-Pacific CEO at ING IM but transitioned to his current position in 2011, as reported.
Kashima was ING IM’s head of Japan equities, having previously held a similar role at Chase Trust Bank.
These additions by BNY Mellon IM come as Japanese equities have rallied on the back of monetary easing and fiscal spending by the recently installed Japanese government under prime minister Shinzo Abe.
“Institutional investors are beginning to consider increasing allocations and weightings to Japan as the market gradually re-rates in response to these positive developments,” says Kishimoto.
Unusually, Douglas Hymas, CEO of ING Mutual Funds Management Company for Japan, was quoted in the BNY Mellon IM statement on this hire as saying: “Our growth strategy at ING Investment Management Japan is increasingly focusing on distribution of offshore assets to third parties.
“In this context we are very pleased that the Japanese equities team, led by [Kashima], is able to transition to such a well-established organisation.”
ING IM has seen a string of departures recently, including a team of five emerging market debt executives to Neuberger Berman.
Dutch bank ING is in the process of selling off assets to repay a €10 billion ($12.9 billion) government bailout dating back to the 2008 financial crisis.
BNY Mellon IM manages US$13 billion out of Japan, less than 1% of its global $1.4 trillion in AUM as at December 31. Harden has spoken previously of the firm’s plans to grow the business aggressively in Asia as part of a two-year expansion plan.
Separately, a BNY Mellon IM spokesperson confirms it has yet to replace Paul Schulte, who joined the firm as Asia-Pacific head of investment strategy in August but left a few months later in November.
Ascalon taps ex-DragonBack CEO
The Australian alternatives fund incubator Ascalon Capital Managers has hired Robert Lance as head of its Australia business.
He joined on April 1 based in Sydney, reporting to chief executive Chuak Chan. Most recently he worked as co-founder and CEO of DragonBack Capital in Hong Kong.
However, the hedge fund platform has seen a string of departures since October, including founding partner Phil Tye, following the firm’s acquisition by Double Haven Capital Management.
Last month, Ascalon announced it had acquired a 30% stake in Singapore-based alternative manager RV Capital.
Ascalon is wholly owned by Westpac Banking Corporation and its wealth management division BT Financial group. It has offices in Sydney and Hong Kong and affiliates in Singapore and London.
Lunar Capital appoints new sector partner
Chinese private equity firm Lunar Capital has promoted Eric Yiming to sector partner covering the food, beverage and fast-moving consumer goods sectors.
Yiming joined the group in 2012 and has held a number of advisory roles. Previously he has represented various firms in the Chinese consumer market.
Lunar Capital is a investment firm focusing on middle-market businesses driven by Chinese consumer demand. It has 32 staff across Shanghai, Chengdu and Hong Kong.
Other people moves reported by AsianInvestor in the past week:
JP Morgan AM building multi-asset unit in Asia
BlackRock hires Singapore retail head from Schroders