Weekly roundup of job-hoppers, May 24
Lazard names Susan Roberts Australia CEO
US-based Lazard Asset Management has promoted Susan Roberts CEO of its Australia and New Zealand business, effective immediately.
Roberts, previously managing director and head of marketing for its Australia operations, will maintain these duties, as well as having direct oversight on day-to-day management of Lazard Asset Management Pacific, which encompasses its Australia and New Zealand businesses.
Roberts takes over the CEO role from Rob Prugue, senior managing director and head of Asia and Pacific business, who is leading the establishment of a new office in Singapore to support its Asian equity team based there. He has temporarily relocated from Sydney to Singapore to oversee the move. Roberts still reports to Prugue.
Lazard has made a number of senior hires recently as it builds out its asset management and investment banking arms in Singapore – notably Jasjit “Jesse” Bhattal, who has been named a senior adviser at Lazard for both its asset management and investment banking arms in Singapore.
Bhattal joined at the start of this year from Nomura, where he had served as head of its Asian wholesale unit. He was the bank’s most senior non-Japanese executive.
As of March 31, Lazard’s global AUM stood at $172 billion, while Lazard Asset Management Pacific in Australia had AUM of $19.2 billion.
HuaAn hires former Kaisen CIO
China-based HuaAn Asset Management has hired Terence Cheng as managing director and head of Asia fixed income in what it says is a newly created role.
Based in Hong Kong, Cheng started in March and reports to CIO Juwan Lee. He joins from Kaisen Asset Management, where he served as CIO between 2009 and 2012. Before Kaisen, he worked at Och-Ziff Capital Management, UBS Global Asset Management and First State Investments.
Cheng is now managing HuaAn’s flagship Rmb1.1 billion ($179.3 million) RQFII aggregate China bond fund, which is up 4.33% year-to-date.
It is understood that HuaAn is looking to launch a number of new products soon, including money market funds and a US-dollar-based Asian bond fund, pending regulatory approval. It will target institutional investors such as corporate pension plans before approaching retail investors.
T Rowe Price adds new fixed income head
US-based fund house T Rowe Price International has named Arif Husain head of international fixed income.
Due to start on August 30, he succeeds Ian Kelson, who will remain in the firm’s fixed income division after expressing a desire to pare back his management responsibilities
Husain will now lead the team out of the firm’s London office, managing a variety of international and global fixed income strategies. His team members are based throughout Europe and Asia.
Following a transition period, Husain will eventually take on portfolio management responsibilities.
Previously Hussain was with AllianceBernstein, most recently as director of European fixed income and UK and European portfolio management. He joined in 1999.
T Rowe Price’s fixed income unit manages $157.8 billion, with 147 employees working in fixed income globally.
CBRE appoints Asia-Pacific COO
Property consultant CBRE has appointed Daniel Queenan chief operating officer for Asia Pacific, effective August 1.
In this role, Queenan will work closely with Robert Blain, Asia-Pacific CEO, to manage the day-to-day operations of CBRE’s regional business. He will also join CBRE’s Asia Pacific Strategy Group, an executive committee that sets strategic direction for the regional business.
The role is new. Previously Blain handled the responsibilities.
Queenan will be based in CBRE’s Hong Kong office and will relocate there from Chicago later this summer.
Queenan was most recently CEO of the Trammell Crow Company, the group’s real estate development subsidiary. He will keep this role.
CBRE’s investor clients include private equity firms and institutional investors. CBRE provides services including negotiations between buyers and sellers for the acquisition and disposal of investment properties.
MAS re-appoints board members
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has re-appointed Tharman Shanmugaratnam as chairman of the board of directors for two years to May 2015.
Shanmugaratnam is deputy prime minister and minister for finance of MAS.
Additionally, Ravi Menon, managing director, will be re-appointed both as managing director and a member of the MAS board of directors for a two-year term to June 2015.
Heng Swee Keat, education minister, and Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai, currently acting minister for culture, community and youth, and senior minister of state for communications and information, will both be re-appointed as members of the MAS board of directors for a two-year term.
CFA Institute adds advisory member
Ng Kok Song has been appointed a member of the advisory council for the Future of Finance project led by CFA Institute. He is adviser and chair of global investments at the city-state's sovereign wealth fund, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
The project aims to create a more trustworthy financial industry, and to promote better understanding and education. Six main topics include putting investors first; safeguarding the system; retirement security; financial knowledge; regulation and enforcement; and transparency and fairness.
Chaired by economist John Kay, council members include Andrew Sheng, president at Fung Global Institute, and Paul Chow, former chief executive, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.
Other people moves reported by AsianInvestor in the past week: