Weekly roundup of people news, April 3
SCHRODERS NAMES NEW HEADS OF ASIA PACIFIC AND JAPAN
UK fund house Schroders has promoted long-standing employees Chris Durack and Susan Soh, heads of Australia and Singapore, respectively, to co-heads of Asia Pacific, with effect from April 1.
It has also hired Noriaki (Nori) Kurose from Pictet Asset Management as head of Japan, effective May 1.
Durack and Soh take over from Lieven Debruyne, who became London-based global head of distribution in January.
Both retain their roles as heads of Australia and Singapore and report to Debruyne. They have been with Schroders since 2011 and 2005, respectively.
Durack had also retained the role of Asia Pacific head of institutional business for Schroders when he became Australia CEO in 2018. Lily Choh took on the role last year in addition to her post as Southeast Asia head of distribution.
Kurose had been managing director of Pictet AM's Japan business, where he spent nearly seven years. He now reports to Durack and succeeds Shigesuke Kashiwagi, who has decided to step down.
Pictet did not response to a request for comment.
BLACKROCK LOSES ASIA EQUITIES HEAD, RESHUFFLES TEAM
BlackRock’s Hong Kong-based head of Asian equities, Andrew Swan, is leaving to move to Australia to manage assets at a boutique firm, a spokeswoman for US fund management giant firm said.
Swan was lead portfolio manager on many of BlackRock's Asian equity portfolios and a leader of the global emerging markets team, headed globally by Belinda Boa, chief investment officer of global emerging markets.
"While Andrew’s departure is certainly a loss to the platform, we have taken the necessary steps to prepare for succession and are well prepared for this transition," the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. "There will be no changes to the investment process."
Portfolio managers Gordon Fraser and Stephen Andrews will become co-heads of global EM equities while another PM, Sam Vecht, will become head of emerging Europe, frontiers and alternative strategies. They will all report to Boa.
Swan has spent nearly nine years with the firm, having joined after a 17-year career at JP Morgan, most recently as head of emerging market equities.
ROBECO CLIENT PM FOR QUANT EQUITIES RELOCATES
Frank Wirds, client portfolio manager for quant equities at Robeco, has left Hong Kong in early March to return to the fund house’s headquarters in the Netherlands.
Wirds remains on the global team of client PMs for quant equities, but is replaced in Hong Kong by Jan Rohof, another member of the quant equities team, a company spokeswoman said.
TOP CHINA RISE SECURITIES AM EXECS BANNED IN HONG KONG
Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has handed temporary industry bans to two senior executives of Hong Kong-based China Rise Securities Asset Management.
Sammy Shiu Kin-Keung, the firm's former chief executive, and Wat Hin-Pong, the former head of dealing, cannot return to the industry for 28 months and seven months, respectively, starting from March 30.
In violation of China Rise’s internal policies and the rules of Hong Kong's stock exchange, Shiu failed to obtain proper approval for personal dealings, short sales and cross trades, to avoid conflict of interest when operating a client’s discretionary account, and to report cross trades to the bourse.
Wat failed to identify and prevent Shiu’s illegal short selling, to take any steps to ascertain whether Shiu had disclosed his interest or had obtained his client’s consent, or to properly review the trading activities in both Shiu and the client’s account.
The firm declined to comment on whether their positions had been filled.
T. ROWE PRICE NAMES CLIENT DIRECTOR FOR GREATER CHINA
T. Rowe Price has hired Raymond Chan from Fidelity as client director of intermediary business for Greater China, effective March 25.
He replaces a team member who left to pursue other opportunities, a company spokeswoman said, declining to identify the individual.
Chan reports to Priscilla Leung, head of intermediary business for Greater China. Both are based in Hong Kong.
Chan had held a similar role at Fidelity International, which declined to comment on his departure.
STANCHART NAMES CO-HEADS FOR NEW FINANCING AND SECURITIES SERVICES UNIT
Standard Chartered Bank has combined its securities services business (currently part of transaction banking) with portfolio risk management in the financial markets business to form the financing and securities services unit.
As from April 2, Margaret Harwood-Jones and Emmanuel Ramambason co-head the new division, remaining in Singapore and London, respectively.
The unit incorporates custody, clearing, fiduciary and fund services, securities lending, as well as all portfolio risk management activities across prime services, money markets and the central funding desk.
Harwood-Jones was formerly global head of securities services, while Ramambason was previously global head of portfolio risk management.
Both report to Roberto Hoornweg, London-based global head of financial markets. Their job remits remain the same, said a company spokeswoman.
ASHURST APPOINTS FIRST APAC HEAD OF INVESTMENT FUNDS
London-based law firm Ashurst has appointed Danny Tan as Asia Pacific head of investment funds.
Tan took up the newly created role on April 1 in Singapore and reports to Piers Warburton, London-based global head of investment funds.
Tan previously headed the private funds team at law firm Allen & Gledhill, which declined to comment on his departure.
Ashurst established Tan's role to expand the Asia Pacific funds practice business, alongside partners Dean Moroz in Hong Kong, Con Tzerefos in Melbourne and Lisa Simmons in Sydney.
WITHERS EXPANDS ITS TOKYO REAL ESTATE TEAM
London-based law firm Withers has added to its property capabilities in Tokyo with the April 1 hire of real estate investment partner Toshihiko Tsuchiya and his team.
Qualified in both Japan and New York, Tsuchiya advises on property acquisitions and development projects and acts on bank finance transactions. He reports to Eric Roose, Tokyo-based managing partner.
Tsuchiya joined Withers from rival law firm Orrick with Yoko Okamura, who will work as a paralegal, and a legal assistant.
Toshikazu Sakai also recently joined the Tokyo team as special counsel and will work closely with Tsuchiya. Sakai joined from Anderson, Mori & Tomotsune, where he had been an attorney at law since April 2015.
Neither Orrick nor Anderson, Mori & Tomotsune responded to a request for comment.
FIRST ABU DHABI BANK HIRES OFFICIAL INSTITUTIONS HEAD
Jukka Pihlman, formerly New York-based global head of central banks and sovereign wealth funds at Standard Chartered Bank, joined First Abu Dhabi Bank last month as head of official institutions.
The Abu Dhabi firm did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment sent outside the Emirate's working hours.
Mike Burrowes, New York-based executive director of public-sector and development organisations at Standard Chartered, has absorbed Pihlman's responsibilities.
Pihlman left StanChart in October last year, since when he has been helping set up a start-up in Finland, 4 Good Games, that develops casual games to raise awareness and mobilise resources to help the world achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
DWS’S HEAD OF INSURANCE GETS ALTERNATIVES POST
Michele Gaffo, Frankfurt-based global head of insurance at DWS Investments, has been handed the additional role of head of alternative investment specialists for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as of February.
Gianluca Muzzi previously held the Emea role but has left the firm.
CITI PRIVATE BANK'S SOUTH ASIA HEAD DEPARTS
Jyrki Rauhio, formerly South Asia head at Citi Private Bank, has left the US firm.
Rauhio departed as he wanted a new challenge, said the Citi spokesman. He will not be replaced as Citi wanted to take the opportunity to streamline the business.
All the South Asia global market managers now report to Steven Lo, Asia Pacific chief executive of Citi Private Bank, a company spokesman said.
AsianInvestor could not ascertain Rauhio’s next destination.
ANZ PRIVATE HIRES FOR FAMILY OFFICE DIVISION
ANZ Private has expanded its family office unit in Sydney, with the hires of Hayden Matthews as director of family office and Benjamin Pedley as senior investment adviser for its ultra-high-net-worth global family office business. Matthews joined on February 24 and Pedley on March 5.
Matthews’s role was newly created with a view to growing the business, with a focus on Australia and New Zealand. Pedley's role has been in place for some time, said a spokesman, declining to say who had held it previously.
Matthews reports to Michael Loughman, head of ANZ Private, while Pedley reports to Matthews.
Matthews was most recently HSBC Private Banking's Australia head and has also worked in the wealth management divisions of JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank.
HSBC did not respond to a request for comment.
Pedley was previously chief investment officer Hokkaido Asset Management, a real estate and hospitality venture he founded in 2017. He has also held senior roles at HSBC Private Bank, including Asia head of investment strategy, and UBS.
MARCUARD HERITAGE HIRES CREDIT SUISSE DUO
Wealth manager Marcuard Heritage has appointed Rachel Ryser-Grueter and Urs Grueter as managing directors for its Singapore business, effective March 1 and reporting to Armando Beer, Singapore chief executive.
A spokesman for the firm said their roles were new headcounts, but declined to comment on why they had been created now.
The duo joined from Credit Suisse, where Ryser-Grueter was regional team lead for Asian private clients offshore for the bank's Singapore arm and Grueter was market head for Thailand and Vietnam. The bank declined to say whether it had replaced them.
RAFFLES FAMILY OFFICE NAMES MD
Singapore-based Raffles Family Office has appointed Marvin Koh as managing director and relationship manager, effective March 1.
Based in Singapore, Koh reports to Kwan Chi-Man, chief executive of the multi-family office, based in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Koh’s role is a newly created one, a spokesman for the firm said.
He joined from Singapore's DBS Bank, where he was senior director of private banking, according to his Linkedin profile. The bank declined to comment on his departure.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the past week:
Barings shrinks equity teams, cuts sovereign client focus
Dai-Ichi Life appoints new deputy GM of fixed income
Japan’s GPIF hands CIO role to Goldman Sachs veteran