Weekly roundup of people news, April 22
HESTA NAMES SALLY COLLINS AS NEW CFO
Australian super fund Hesta has appointed Sally Collins as its chief financial officer according to an official statement on April 19.
Collins will be responsible for managing financial and accounting processes, legal matters, tax, facilities and sustainability, project execution and governance.
She joins the $50 billion industry fund after most recently serving as the chief operating officer at Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC).
Before working at the VFMC, Collins held several General Manager positions within the National Australia Bank as well as head of department roles for CBA and AXA. She was recently appointed as the Chair of Autism Awareness Australia (AAA) and has been a non-executive Director on the AAA board since 2016.
VFMC has been contacted for information about her replacement.
LIGHTHOUSE CANTON HIRES INSTO SALES HEAD AND FORMER GIC REAL ESTATE PM
Global asset manager Lighthouse Canton has hired Anselmo Park as head of global institutional sales and Ankit Agrawal as director of venture debt. Both will be based in Singapore, according to a company statement on Monday (April 18).
Park, who took up the posting in March, will be responsible for managing global institutional investors for the company’s private and public market strategies.
He has more than 20 years of industry experience primarily in regional institutional sales and client relationship management roles at MFS Investment Management, Mirae Asset Global Investments, and Citibank.
During his time at MFS, he and his team won the 2016 AsianInvestor award for ‘Best Institutional Solutions Provider for Equity” in the Korea category.
His role at MFS is now shared between Singapore-based Sally Choo, managing director for Asia ex-Japan and Hong Young Ju, director of relationship management and sales for South Korea, who is based in Hong Kong, as reported by AsianInvestor on April 1.
Agrawal, who started the role in January, according to his LinkedIn profile, will focus on enhancing the firm’s venture debt capabilities and supporting its strategy to provide its international investors access to venture debt investments across markets such as India and Southeast Asia.
He previously held roles in GIC Singapore's real estate portfolio management team, Piramal Group and PwC while based in Mumbai. Most recently, he was an investment officer for the International Finance Corporation (IFC ).
Both Park and Agrawal report to Sanket Sinha, executive director, global head of asset management.
FORMER CHINA HUARONG CHAIR TO LEAD ANOTHER STATE-OWNED BAD DEBT MANAGER
Wang Zhanfeng, former chairman of China’s state-owned bad debt manager China Huarong Asset Management, has joined another “big four” state-owned asset management company, China Orient Asset Management, as secretary of the company’s party committee, the top role of a state-owned company, according to its website.
Wang has also been recommended as a chairman candidate, Orient announced the decision during an internal meeting on Wednesday (April 20), according to local news that was first reported by Caixin. Orient couldn’t be reached for comments.
Wang replaced Wu Yue, who retired from the leader role in February after eight years.
Wang took over the management of Huarong as company party secretary and chairman in April 2018, after former chair Lai Xiaomin was sacked - and later executed - for graft.
On March 31, Huarong announced the departure of Wang, whose roles are concurrently taken over by vice president of CITIC Group Liu Zhengjun. CITIC Group owns 26.46% of Huarong shares, making it the firm's largest shareholder.
Orient manages $176 billion of assets as of the end of 2020. Its business covers asset management, banking, insurance, and trust, with about 60,000 employees. Together with Huarong, China Cinda Asset Management, and China Great Wall Asset Management, Orient was one of the four state-owned asset management companies (AMC) founded in 1999 to buy bad loans from state-owned commercial banks after the 1990s Asian financial crisis.
FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL HIRES FORMER HWABAO WP CEO AS CHINA HEAD
Fidelity International has named Helen Huang as managing director, China, leading the asset management branch in Shanghai, with effect from Wednesday (April 20), the firm announced on the same day.
Huang joins from Hwabao WP Fund Management, where she was most recently the chief executive officer. Based in Shanghai, she will provide overall leadership in investment management, distribution, operations, and other key functions, as Fidelity establishes its wholly-owned mutual fund business in China. She reports to Rajeev Mittal, managing director, Asia Pacific ex-Japan.
Huang replaced Fidelity’s former China president Daisy Ho, who left the firm in the summer of 2021 and became regional CEO for Asia Pacific and Hong Kong at HSBC Asset Management in November last year.
Before joining Fidelity, Huang joined mutual fund joint venture Hwabao WP Fund Management in Shanghai in 2003 and served different senior roles. She became CEO of the firm in 2013, leading the fund that has $60 billion of assets under management by the end of March.
According to Hwabao WP’s public disclosure, Huang left the firm on April 18, and deputy CEO Xiang Hui will become acting CEO to take care of her responsibilities. The fund declined to comment on whether the hunt for a new CEO is underway.
UBS NAMES NEW MANAGER FOR DEFICIT ASIAN HIGH YIELD FUND
After a three-month vacancy, UBS Group AG has hired Raymond Lin Gui from Income Partners Asset Management to manage its $2 billion Asian high yield fund, which is suffering losses as one of the reportedly top holders of embattled Evergrande's offshore debt.
Gui will join UBS Asset Management in Hong Kong on May 2 as head of portfolio management for Asia fixed income, reporting to Hayden Briscoe, head of global emerging markets and Asia Pacific fixed income. He will oversee all Asia- and China-based fixed income portfolios with all Asia and China portfolio managers reporting to him, UBS said in a statement.
He will manage the Asian high yield fund alongside Smit Rastogi, who was also named co-portfolio manager of the fund in January this year alongside Briscoe, who temporarily took over the role. Rastogi joined UBS Asset Management in 2015 as a portfolio manager within the Asia fixed income team.
Gui replaced the position left vacant by Singapore-based Ross Dilkes, who was with UBS for over 16 years and left the firm in January.
The Asian high yield fund had 38.6% exposure to onshore China, and 38.6% exposure to the real estate sector as of the end of 2021, according to the fund brochure. Amid China’s property debt crisis, the fund lost 18% in 2021, and slumped another 16% year to date.
Before joining UBS, Gui spent almost 12 years as co-chief investment officer and senior portfolio manager at Hong Kong-based Income Partners Asset Management, where he co-led a team of 12 portfolio managers, analysts and traders, and managed both hard currency and onshore bond funds, including the firm’s flagship Asian USD high yield strategy. Income Partners declined to comment on Gui’s departure and his replacement.
T ROWE PRICE HIRES FIXED INCOME SPECIALIST
T Rowe Price has hired asset management veteran Ramon Maronilla as a fixed income portfolio specialist, the investment management firm announced on Thursday.
Maronilla is based in the Hong Kong office and will work closely with the firm’s global team of fixed income portfolio managers to offer their investment expertise to institutional and intermediary clients in Asia.
Before joining T Rowe Price, Maronilla spent 11 years at JP Morgan Asset Management, where he was a managing director and head of fixed income investment specialists for Asia Pacific-ex Japan. Prior to that, he held similar positions at State Street Global Advisors and PIMCO. JP Morgan declined to comment on his replacement.
Maronilla assumed the role on March 29, and now reports to Sydney-based Nick Beecroft, the Asia Pacific head of the investment group.
LEV MARGOLIN LEAVES L1 CAPITAL TO START FAMILY OFFICE
After 14 years as a portfolio manager for L1 Capital, Lev Margolin is leaving the firm to establish his own family office.
Margolin revealed in a LinkedIn post, that the family office will focus on opportunities in TMET (telecommunications, media, entertainment and technology), gaming, infrastructure, agriculture and financials across both public and private markets.
He stated that working at L1 has been the most rewarding professional experience of his life and offered praise to some of his closest colleagues.
“I will always believe in the L1 team and in particular I believe the investment team at L1 is one of the best. A big thank you to the Australian analyst team of Amar Naik, Andrew Levy, Andrew Lin and David Vien who I had the pleasure of working with for the last several years. I look forward to watching you guys continue to succeed,” wrote Margolin.
The new family office will be based in Melbourne and is expected to launch in the second half of the year, with hiring underway.
AUSTRALIAN ETHICAL BOOSTS ITS INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
Australian Ethical has added three industry veterans to its investment committee, to further boost its leadership in ethical and ESG asset allocation.
The Sydney-based ethical wealth management and superannuation fund has appointed Sean Henaghan, Sandra McCullagh and Steve Rankine to its investment committee, bringing the committee’s total to seven members.
McCullagh currently serves as a non-executive director at the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC). She is also a former director of QSuper and was responsible for establishing ESG equities research capabilities at Credit Suisse Australia.
Henaghan is the chief investment officer of Aurora Capital. Before that he served as chief investment officer of AMP Capital's Multi-Asset Group.
Rankine currently sits on several investment committees and boards across fund management, infrastructure and insurance. He is the former head of asset management at Hastings Funds Management. Before that he was the managing director of debt capital markets at Westpac Institutional Bank.
Australian Ethical had $4.79 billion in funds under management and over 71,000 clients as of 30 September 2021.
ESR ADDS INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Hong Kong-based real estate manager ESR has appointed Serene Nah, chief financial officer of Kerry Properties, as an independent non-executive director to the company’s board of directors, with effect from Tuesday (April 19), the company announced on the same day. Nah will also be appointed as a member of the audit committee and nomination committee of the company.
The newly added role highlights the company’s effort to foster female participation and bring in a broader spectrum of views, it told AsianInvestor. ESR now has two female independent non-executive directors on the 15-member board.
Based in Hong Kong, Nah has extensive experience in financial management, capital markets and business transformation. She is the executive director and chief financial officer of Kerry Properties. Prior to Kerry Properties, she served as the head of portfolio management, Asia for private equity firm SilverLake Partners.
VALUE PARTNERS APPOINTS INDUSTRY VETERAN DAVID TOWNSEND
Value Partners Group has appointed David Townsend as its managing director, EMEA Business with effect from April 21, 2022.
Based in London, he reports to group president June Wong and will be responsible for leading the company’s engagement with institutional investors in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and the coverage of international wholesale distribution partners across the EMEA region.
He has extensive experience in the investment management and financial industry, which includes his prior role as head of investor relations at Alderwood Capital and before that as head of EMEA institutional at the First Eagle Investment Management in London.
He was also managing director, head of EMEA and global consultant relations at Martin Currie Investment Management as well as head of UK institutional sales at AXA Investment Managers UK and at Framlington Investment Management.