Weekly roundup of job-hoppers, Nov 9
Vanguard to transition Asia-Pacific CIO
Vanguard Investments announced it had appointed Gregory Davis as its new Asia-Pacific chief investment officer and that he would relocate to take up the role in the first half of next year.
Davis is currently principal and head of bond indexing in Vanguard's fixed income group, with responsibility for managing over $240 billion.
Having spent 13 years at the firm, he will relocate to Vanguard's Australia head office in Melbourne, to take over the role from Joe Brennan, who is returning to a senior role in the investment team at Vanguard's Pennsylvania headquarters.
In Australia Davis will lead a team of 45 investment professionals responsible for managing equity and fixed income portfolios for both Australian and Asian investors.
Davis joined Vanguard in 1999 from Merrill Lynch. Vanguard Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based Vanguard Group, which manages almost A$2.1 trillion for individual and institutional accounts.
New business development head for BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon has appointed Wendy Lim from ANZ as regional head of business development for Asia Pacific investment management.
Based in Singapore, she reports to Jane Caire, head of strategy, development, product and marketing. She also joins BNY Mellon Investment Management's executive committee and Asia-Pacific operating committee.
"Asia Pacific is strategically a very important market for BNY Mellon and we are very serious in our ambitions to become one of the premier investment management firms in the region," says Alan Harden, Asia-Pacific CEO, in a statement.
Prior to joining BNY Mellon, Lim was managing director for retail banking and wealth management for Asia Pacific at ANZ. She joined post the acquisition of selected Royal Bank of Scotland businesses in Asia in late 2009. BNY Mellon has $1.4 trillion in AUM.
UBS Wealth Management names India CEO
UBS Wealth Management has appointed Oscar Balcon as the first CEO of its recently established India franchise. He was previously chief operating officer for Asia Pacific, with direct responsibility for wealth management in China and India.
Balcon is responsible for building a more comprehensive platform in the sub-continent targeting ultra-high-net-worth individuals. The Swiss bank already offers equities, funds and cash products to domestic clients, and will soon be offering lending solutions for resident and NRI clients.
UBS WM’s Indian franchise currently has 18 employees, with the most senior hires including Kunal Kapadia, Vikram Gupta, Abhishek Misra and Nitila Natarajan.
Amundi replaces North Asia investment director
French asset manager Amundi announced the appointment of Terence Khoo to replace David Chen in an expanded role as North Asia investment director.
Hong Kong-based Khoo started on October 29 and is responsible for research and portfolio management on North Asia equities. He reports to Ayaz Ebrahim, CIO for Asia ex-Japan equities.
A spokesman says Khoo’s appointment is an expansion of the role previously held by Chen, who focused on Taiwan and Korea equities. Chen worked with the group between 2006 and 2012 and has left to join a rival, although his destination was unclear by press time.
Khoo was most recently Asia CIO at Sofaer Global Research, a Hong Kong-based asset manager, a role he left at the end of April. Nissim Tse was promoted to replace Khoo on May 1.
Standard Life names multi-asset investment director
Scottish fund house Standard Life Investments announced the appointment of Adam Rudd as investment director for the multi-asset investment (MAI) team, reporting to Guy Stern, head of multi-asset fund management.
Edinburgh-based Rudd is part of a 25-strong team that provides analysis, investment recommendations, implementation strategies and management for its MAI funds. He was most recently equity derivatives strategist at JP Morgan in New York.
Alvarez & Marsal relocates MD to Hong Kong
The US-based consulting firm, specialising in corporate restructuring and turnarounds, has relocated managing director Jacques Roizen from New York to Hong Kong.
Reporting to Asia co-heads Oliver Stratton and James Dubow, Roizen began work on October 1. He will advise clients including private equity firms on restructuring and the turnaround of their underlying portfolio companies.
The move comes as the group looks to further expand in the region, most recently with the opening of its Beijing branch last year, as reported.
Stratton and Dubow says it is continuing to expand its senior advisory team in mainland China, especially in areas such as finance, sales and marketing, operations and supply chain.
“Private equity firms are continuing to invest in Asian businesses, and increasingly focus on working with their portfolio on adding value to the bottom line,” say Stratton and Dubow. “Consumer, retail, industrial, energy and resources are sectors that most funds are covering.”
Nomura confirms Tim Rocks' hire
Japanese bank Nomura announced the appointment of Tim Rocks as its Australia strategist this week, following his move from rival Bank of America Merrill Lynch in October, as reported.
Reporting to Richard Johnson, head of equity research for Australia, Rocks is responsible for covering the bank’s equity research in Australia. He is named managing director and Australia strategist for what is said to be a newly-created role.
Rocks joined the Japanese bank last month; Joshua Kirkwood has been promoted to replace him at BoA-Merrill.
In September, there were “single-digit cuts” to the Australian equity sales and trading division at BoA-Merrill, but this has not affected the equity research team, said a source.
However, this was overshadowed by Nomura’s announcement last month that it would cut costs by $1 billion, mostly targeting the equity and investment banking business outside Japan, as reported by sister publication FinanceAsia.
Charles River opens Hong Kong office
Asset management software vendor Charles River Investment announced it has opened a regional sales office in Hong Kong.
Several firms have already signed up to use its investment management software this year, including China Life Pension Company, Malaysia-based Employees Provident Fund and Thailand’s Kasikorn Asset Management.
It is understood that Charles River recently signed a contract with a large hedge fund firm in Hong Kong, but the vendor declined to provide a name.
The group’s other offices in Asia Pacific include Beijing, Melbourne, Singapore and Tokyo.
Paul Hastings opens Korean office
Law firm Paul Hastings has officially opened its Seoul office, having received registration approval from the Korean Bar Association in September.
The office is led by Korea office chair Jong Han Kim, and will cover areas including cross-border M&A and joint ventures; complex cross-border litigation including intellectual property and anti-trust matters; and international capital markets.
Dong Chul Kim has moved from rival Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton to join as counsel. Coincidentally, Cleary Gottlieb itself opened its own foreign legal consulting office in Seoul last month.
Other members include Kim Woojae as of-counsel, as well as a planned relocation of IP litigation specialist Trisha Chang from the Washington, DC office.
Kim says Paul Hastings is expecting to hire one or two more associates in the litigation and corporate practices.
Mercer relocates partner to Shanghai
US-based consultancy Mercer announced the appointment of Mike Piker, who started September in Shanghai in a newly created role as lead Asia-Pacific international consultant for its talent business line.
The firm says the talent franchise provides consultancy services to clients in leadership and organisation performance, rewards, mobility and communication. Piker will be selling, coordinating and delivering services to clients, which can be multi-country and multi-segment.
Piker relocates from New York, where he worked as a human resources consultant for its global human capital business.
Other moves reported by AsianInvestor in the past week:
Bosera AM loses Chiu to Manulife, hires Wang
Collis to join fixed income specialist Standish
Pioneer eyes Asia institutions with trio of hires