Weekly roundup of job-hoppers, Aug 3

GIC unveils internal changes
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC revealed in its annual report that it had appointed six new managing directors following a quartet of retirements, including two of the fund’s pioneers.

Chief administration officer Vivien Chen stepped down on June 30, and this post is still vacant. Director of economics and investment strategy, Aje Saigal, retired on January 31. Both were described as GIC pioneers, having been with the company since its early years in the 1980s.

Further, Michael Carp retired on June 30 as global head of real estate investments in GIC Real Estate, and Adelene Tan ended her tenure as head of external managers at GIC Asset Management.

GIC confirmed that Leslie Teo had succeeded Saigal concurrent with his position as chief economist, while Betty Tay had taken over from Tan and Tia Miyamoto succeeded Carp as regional head of the Americas.

Further, GIC said it had promoted six new managing directors at the start of last month: Ravi Balasubramanian, Daniel Judge, Liew Tzu Mi and Jason Triplitt in its public markets department; Suzi Cohen in special investments; and Lee Kok Sun in its real estate business.

GIC engaged in an internal management reshuffle last year following the succession of prime minister Lee Hsien Loong as chairman, as reported by AsianInvestor.

That saw it appoint new heads of its three key investment subsidiaries, effective from July 1, including Lim Chow Kiat as president of GIC Asset Management.

New PM duo for HSBC Global Asset Management
HSBC Global Asset Management is set to announce it has hired two portfolio managers for its Asian equities team based in Hong Kong, AsianInvestor can reveal.

Karma Wilson started at the firm in Hong Kong last month reporting to Husan Pai and Michael Dillon, co-heads of Asian equities. Wilson was previously head of Asian equities at Sydney-based AMP Capital, but left last year.

HSBC's AM business is set to unveil another investment director in its Asian equities team, understood to be Michael Chiu, formerly of ING Investment Management based in Hong Kong.

An HSBC spokeswoman declines to comment when asked if the pair are replacements for staff exits. A spokeswoman for ING IM confirms Chiu left earlier this summer and has not been replaced.

Wilson spent five years with AMP Capital before relocating with her family to Hong Kong last year, as reported. There she managed China and Asian product, including Australia’s first China A-share fund listed on the ASX.

AMP Capital has been restructuring its team as it moves to build an Asian equities team out of Hong Kong.

Prior to joining AMP Capital in 2006, Wilson worked at boutique asset manager Five Oceans AM with responsibility for investments in Asia and Japan.

She also spent six years as a portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs from 1994-2000 across Hong Kong, Singapore and New York. She was responsible for Asian and US investment portfolios and was a member of the international asset allocation committee. She has also worked in the Bankers Trust international equity team in Sydney covering Asian markets.

MSIM rehires Yu as PM for China/Hong Kong
Morgan Stanley Investment Management has re-hired May Yu from CICC as an executive director and portfolio manager in its emerging markets equity team.

Yu joined late last month and will be based in Hong Kong and Singapore. Her focus will be on China and Hong Kong.

Previously Yu was lead portfolio manager at China International Capital Corporation for long-only China/Hong Kong equity. But she is returning to MSIM after a little over a year, having worked for the firm from 2006 to early 2011 in China investments.

Yu has also worked as an assistant director in China research at BNP Paribas Peregrine in Beijing, and as a manager for China Cinda Asset Management and China Construction Bank.

Allianz adds portfolio manager from Julius Baer
Asset manager Allianz Global Investors has appointed Anthony Wong from Bank Julius Baer as portfolio manager for its China A-Shares equity portfolio, AsianInvestor can reveal.

Based in Hong Kong, Wong started his new role on July 9 and reports to Christina Chung, senior portfolio manager for Hong Kong/China equities.

A spokeswoman for AllianzGI confirmed the hire, saying it had been seeking an A-share manager to complete its Hong Kong/China team.

Previously Wong worked in the portfolio management team at Julius Baer in Hong Kong, helping to manage its China Fund, a QFII classified mutual fund that invests in A-shares and H-shares. He left the Swiss private bank earlier this year.

He has also worked at Yinhua Fund Management in Shenzhen as deputy head of foreign investment, managing the Hong Kong equity sub-portfolio of Yinhua QDII global core equity fund and formulating investment strategies for the Hong Kong market.

Internal reshuffle at DBS
DBS Group has carried out an internal reshuffle, promoting Koh Kar Siong to regional head of its premium consumer banking arm Treasures.

Koh had been head of POSB, part of its consumer banking group, and starts in his role on August 7. He succeeds Pearlyn Phau, who will become head of consumer banking in Hong Kong.

Koh will be responsible for two client segments, one for those with investible assets of up to S$1.5 million, and the other for individuals with between S$1.5 million and S$5 million. He will report to Tan Su Shan, group head of wealth management for DBS Bank.

Replacing Koh as head of POSB will be Derrick Goh, chief operating officer for its institutional banking group. This will become effective from October 1.

Senior equities analyst joins First State
First State Investments announced the appointment of Peter Mangano as a senior analyst within its global resources team in a newly created role based in Sydney.

He started on July 30 and will examine opportunities in global resources exploration companies, reporting to the firm’s head of global resources, Joanne Warner.

Previously Mangano was chief operating officer at IPD Analytics, a Miami-based patent research firm. He has also spent more than 15 years as equity resources analyst with Citigroup, Salomon Smith Barney and HSBC.

HKMEx appoints co-presidents after retirement
Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange announced it had promoted Jane Wang and William Barkshire to co-presidents following Albert Helmig’s retirement, effective August 2. The outgoing Helmig had been president of the commodities exchange for the past three-and-a-half years.

Wang has worked as managing director for Greater China at HKMEx since joining in 2008, while Barkshire joined the exchange as senior group adviser in 2009 and most recently chief operating officer.

The pair are now responsible for building the exchange’s client base in China and overseas. Future plans include launching gold and copper contracts denominated in renminbi, as well as other products in precious and base metals, and energy, agriculture, and commodity indices.

Other people moves reported by AsianInvestor in the past week:

Western rebuilds Asia investment team

AMP Capital turns to Ching for Asia growth