Weekly roundup of job-hoppers, Aug 24

Credit Suisse rehires from Samsung Securities
Swiss bank Credit Suisse has rehired SJ Hwang as head of private banking for its ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) segment in Asia Pacific, according to an internal memo seen by AsianInvestor.

Hwang began on August 6 based in Hong Kong in what the firm says is a newly created role, working with relationship managers, investment consultants and product specialists. He reports to the bank’s head of UHNW solutions, Yves-Alain Sommerhalder.

Credit Suisse says its UHNW segment made up 50% of its assets under management and net new assets in Asia in the first half of this year.

Hwang joined Credit Suisse from Samsung Securities, where he had been global head of equities and CEO of Samsung Securities Asia for the past two years.

But before that he had been with Credit Suisse for 16 years from 1994 to 2010 in senior management roles, including Asia-Pacific head of distribution for equities and co-head of Asia ex-Japan equities.

Hwang’s departure also comes at a time when five of his former colleagues at Samsung Securities left to join HSBC between April and May this year. AsianInvestor has reported that the firm was trimming its Hong Kong operations having attempted to expand two years ago.

Portfolio manager Tse exits Fidelity
Fidelity portfolio manager Joseph Tse has stepped down from large-scale institutional fund management after 22 years with the firm.

A spokeswoman for Fidelity confirmed Tse quit in July, with media reporting he wanted a change in lifestyle and career. He was managing the firm's Asian Special Situations Fund and its Greater China Fund.

Suranjan Mukherjee and Raymond Ma take over responsibility for the two Fidelity funds, respectively. Mukherjee joined the firm in 2004 and has been running Asian equity portfolios since 2009.

Ma has managed the Fidelity China Consumer Fund (Sicav) since February last year and was made manager of the onshore China Consumer Fund in August last year when it launched. He has been with Fidelity since 2006 and has 12 years’ experience in researching Chinese firms.

Nomura unveils head of Asia fixed income
Japanese investment bank Nomura announced it had promoted Rig Karkhanis to head of fixed income for Asia ex-Japan as it looks to build out its regional platform.

Karkhanis started in the role on August 23 in Singapore, having joined the firm in September 2010 as head of fixed income for Singapore. Previously he was a portfolio manager for Millennium Partners in the Lion City, and has worked for Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank.

He takes over the reins from Jai Rajpal, who has been appointed global head of foreign exchange based in London following the departure of Richard Gladwin last August. Since then the FX business had fallen under the macro products group.

Karkhanis reports locally to Asia ex-Japan CEO Minoru Shinohara and regionally to Yutaka Nakajima, head of fixed income trading for Asia Pacific, and Takashi Abiko, head of fixed income sales at Asia Pacific. Globally he reports to Steve Ashley, global head of fixed income.

The creation of the macro products group last June was followed by Gladwin’s exit. Separately, Nomura cut 30 bankers in its fixed income business globally, as reported by Reuters this March.

Manulife AM bulks up Asean capabilities
Manulife Asset Management moved to boost its investment resources in Singapore, transferring its Asian fixed income portfolio manager there and adding another resource.

Endre Pedersen was switched from Hong Kong to the city-state but retains the same responsibilities, managing the firm’s Asian multi-currency fixed income strategy.

Manulife has added Rana Gupta as a senior portfolio manager responsible for research, analysis and coverage of Indian equities. He was most recently a vice-president at Temasek subsidiary Fullerton Fund Management, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The pair’s new roles were effective from July and both report to Jill Smith, senior managing director for Manulife Asset Management in Singapore.

Earlier in March, AsianInvestor reported that Singapore-based Lawrence Wee had joined Manulife to head its institutional sales for South Asia. Similarly, Peter Kim was hired to build on its institutional sales capabilities in Korea this July.

Last year, CEO Jean-Francis Courville told AsianInvestor the firm was aiming to double its Asian AUM to $80 billion within five years. At present its regional AUM stands at $48 billion, of which $37 billion is invested in fixed income and $11 billion in equities. It has 47 Asian fixed income and 85 Asian equity professionals across 10 regional countries and territories.

RBS replaces senior economists
The Royal Bank of Scotland has hired Louis Kuijs and Enrico Tanuwidjaja as senior economists for its Asia-Pacific research team.

Based in Hong Kong, Kuijs started on August 16 as chief China economist, replacing Li Cui, who quit to join Goldman Sachs as a senior China economist this July.

Kuijs previously worked at Asian think-thank the Fung Global Institute, researching the economies of China and India. He has also worked at MF Global in Hong Kong and the World Bank in Beijing.

Tanuwidjaja started on August 15 as Southeast Asia economist based in Singapore, replacing Su Sian Lim who joined HSBC as Asean economist this June, as reported. He was previously a senior FX strategist covering Asian currencies and macroeconomics at Malaysia’s Maybank.

Both Kuijs and Tanuwidjaja report to Sanjay Mathur, head of economics research for Asia Pacific ex-Japan.

New Australia director for RBC Investor Services
RBC Investor Services announced the appointment of Kevin Hogan from Macquarie Investment Management as director of client operations in Australia.

Based in Sydney, Hogan started on July 30 and takes responsibility for custody, fund administration and shareholder services in the country.

He replaces Yvonne Hurst, who has relocated to the group’s London office, and he reports to the head of client operations for Asia Pacific, Duncan White, and managing director for Australia, David Travers.

Hogan was most recently head of fund accounting at Macquarie IM. Prior to that he has worked for Northern Trust and Deutsche Bank in senior management positions in Ireland and at Schroder IM (Australasia).

RBC Investor Services is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada and has $2.9 trillion in assets under administration.

Other moves reported by AsianInvestor in the past week:

Paul Smith exits Triple A for CFA Institute

US house hires Bingham for Asia buildout

Barclays sets sights on independent AMs

Oppenheimer Investments hires new Asia chief

SIG may move investment capabilities east