Weekly roundup of people moves, Mar 17
JP Morgan Private Bank names new Asia chief
JP Morgan Private Bank has named Kwang Kam Shing as chief executive for Asia. She succeeds Andrew Cohen, following his promotion in September to CEO of the international private banking business.
Kwang will retain her role as senior country officer for Hong Kong at JP Morgan, a role she took on in 2015. She will continue to report to Cohen.
Kwang previously held the role of managing director and market manager for Hong Kong, China the Philippines and Thailand. The team heads for China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will continue to report to Kwang, whose coverage has now expanded to Southeast Asia.
Her prior roles with the private bank in Asia include head of discretionary investments and market manager for Southeast Asia.
Schroders' Asia multi-asset head returns to UK
Garth Taljard, previously Schroders' Asia head of multi-asset product, returned to the UK in November to become global head of multi-asset management, AsianInvestor has learned.
Taljard's new role emerged when Johanna Kyrklund was promoted to head of multi-asset investment in June last year to replace Nico Marais, who has left the firm. Kyrklund still holds her previous role as head of the asset allocation committee.
The British fund house has not directly replaced Taljard. Vincent Chan, Asia head of product strategy for multi-asset based in Singapore, leads product efforts in the region, working closely with Taljard and the rest of the 85-strong multi-asset team, said a spokesperson.
Taljard came to London to take on business management of multi-asset, with responsibility for product, implementation and risk.
Schroders sees intermediary sales manager exit
Steven Chua, Schroders' Singapore-based business development manager for intermediary sales will leave the UK fund house in May, AsianInvestor has learned.
He has been with Schroders since 2008, and the firm is looking for a replacement, said a spokeswoman.
AsianInvestor could not ascertain Chua's next destination.
Sarasin names first UHNW chief for Asia
Swiss private bank J. Safra Sarasin has appointed Vinay Gandhi as chief executive for ultra-high-net-worth in Asia, a newly created division.
Based in Singapore, he reports to Enid Yip, Asia CEO, and will manage UHNW clients across all Asian markets.
Gandhi joins from UBS, where he was a regional market manager for UHNW clients in Southeast Asia, leading a team of 150 across Singapore and Hong Kong.
He had been with UBS since January 2010, before which he headed the South Asian business for Deustche Bank Wealth Management out of Singapore. He has also worked for Citi Private Bank and Commerzbank in Asia.
UBS WM expands expat team in Singapore
UBS Wealth Management is moving to expand its desk servicing foreign residents in Singapore, which it sees as an under-served segment.
The team was started October 2016 with the hire of Sean Straton, who heads the team. It now has four members, with plans to double that number by the end of the year, a spokesperson said.
The other three members are Dominic Lane, previously head of international markets at HSBC Private Bank, who joined in March; Jean-Philippe Lionnet, previously an associate director at Singapore's DBS, who joined in February; and Cornelius Ehrat, who joined in November from Rothschild Wealth Management in Singapore, where he was a senior investment adviser.
Straton reports to Eddie Gan, managing director and market head for Singapore. Before joining UBS, Straton was a team leader for the Indonesia market at Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse declined to comment his departure.
Ehrat left Rothschild at the end of October 2016 and was replaced by Tang Kai-Meng, a director. HSBC and DBS did not respond by press time to queries on replacements for Lane and Lionnet, respectively.
RBC WM replaces Asia UHNW head
RBC Wealth Management’s Asia head of ultra-high-net-worth clients, Monica Chan, left the firm in February.
Tam Chun-Him, formerly a Singapore-based fixed income portfolio manager at UBS, joined RBC at the end of February to replace Chan. Tam will also work as a fixed income portfolio manager at the Canadian firm.
UBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment by press time.
BNPP IP adds HK retail sales head
BNP Paribas Investment Partners has poached Eric Ng from Aberdeen Asset Management as its first dedicated head of retail distribution for Hong Kong.
He started on February 22 and reports to Mandy Lui, head of private wealth distribution for North Asia.
BNPP IP's intermediary distribution team is now 11-strong across Hong Kong and Singapore, and it also has an onshore team in China and Taiwan, said a spokesman.
He had been a business development manager at Aberdeen, which plans to replace him, said a spokeswoman.
Before that, he worked at BNPP IP, having previously held various roles positions in banking and fund management.
Northern Trust opens Seoul branch
Northern Trust officially opened its Seoul branch office on February 28. It will be headed by a native Korean, Byun Jai-Yung, who was appointed to lead the firm’s representative office in South Korea when it was set up in 2014.
The asset management and asset servicing firm has staff working in Seoul covering client services, compliance, risk and finance, foreign exchange, and operations, a spokesperson said. He declined to reveal the office headcount.
The Seoul branch will provide local relationship management services to custody clients and foreign exchange services to international clients investing into South Korea.
Lioncrest plans expansion to Singapore
Lioncrest Global, a Hong Kong-based investment and advisory firm, aims to expand its presence to Singapore in the coming two years.
The firm, set up by three former UBS executives in November, also plans to grow its adviser numbers gradually, but declined to disclose the number it planned to hire.
Lioncrest also aims to expand its reach to institutional clients in the US and Europe within the next six months, a spokesperson said.
Aviva Investors BD director exits
Claudia Tan, Aviva Investors' director for business development for Asia, has left the firm. The UK fund manager has initiated a search to replace her.
In the interim, Bridget Theseira, client relationship manager in Singapore, will be the key contact point, a spokesperson said.
Tan, based in Singapore, joined Aviva Investors in January 2015. She had developed the intermediary business in Asia, with a focus on private banks.
She was also responsible for covering investment consultants, family offices, university endowments and government-related entities.
Iosco opens first Asia-Pacific hub in Malaysia
The International Organization of Securities Commissions (Iosco), a global body of capital market regulators, launched its first Asia-Pacific hub in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 14.
The hub, located in the Securities Commission Malaysia building in Kuala Lumpur, will be Iosco's first presence outside its headquarters in Madrid, Spain.
The hub will be fully operational by mid-year. There will be senior regulators from regulatory bodies in the region seconded to the hub, and these appointments will be announced in due course, a spokesperson said.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor in the past week:
Korea’s GEPS seeks CIO as KBAM sets up new team