Weekly roundup of people news, Aug 16
Henderson Global Investors adds retail sales head
UK-based Henderson Global Investors has hired Wong Hur Ming as head of retail sales for Singapore. He joins from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, where he was deputy head of intermediary sales for Southeast Asia mutual funds.
Wong will seek to develop Henderson’s retail investor base in Singapore and Malaysia as part of the firm’s expansion plans in the region.
He replaces Dennis Ng, who had held the post for three years. A Henderson spokesperson did not have details on Ng’s future plans.
Deutsche declined to comment on whether Wong has been replaced.
Henderson GI, with $5 billion in AUM sourced from Asia as of June 30, aims to grow the Asian business “several-fold” over the next five years, says Alex Henderson, managing director.
The firm’s investor-base is split 50/50 between institutional and retail, and it expects that ratio to remain stable as its assets grow, a spokeswoman says.
It has four sales staff focused on institutional investors – one in Singapore, two in Tokyo and one in Sydney – and five on the retail side – one in Singapore, two in Hong Kong, one in Tokyo, and one in Sydney.
Henderson GI is part of Henderson Group, which oversees $130 billion in assets. It offers a range of funds invested in equities, fixed income and property, as well as private equity and hedge funds.
Hong Kong's Gaw Capital creates US president role
Hong Kong-based private equity and property firm Gaw Capital Partners has named Timothy Walsh as US-based president and chief operating officer, the first employee for its planned Chicago office.
This is a newly created position as the firm seeks to expand its presence in the US, says a company spokeswoman. She declines to offer more specifics about the Gaw's plans, although media reports claim Walsh will primarily focus on raising money from US institutional investors.
Gaw Capital manages four real estate funds, with institutions making up the bulk of its investor base, but it also manages money for high-net-worth individuals. Some 20% of its investors are based in Asia, 40% in North America and 40% in Europe and the Middle East.
Before joining Gaw, Walsh spent three years running New Jersey state’s investment division, and his deputy, Chris McDonough, will take over on an interim basis while a replacement is sought, according to media reports.
Walsh will reportedly split time between Chicago and California, where Gaw Capital has an affiliate, Downtown Properties, in Los Angeles. The firm has plans to expand its Chicago presence at the start of 2014.
The New Jersey Division of Investment did not respond to requests seeking comment by press time.
It is responsible for the investment management of the seven pension funds that comprise the New Jersey Pension Fund and the State of New Jersey Cash Management Fund. As of end-2012, the total fund was valued at $70.1 billion.
StanChart creates renminbi coverage team
Standard Chartered has created an renminbi coverage team that will advise institutional and corporate clients across a spectrum of products, ranging from transaction banking, hedging, foreign exchange and debt capital markets.
The team comprises Carmen Ling, global head of renminbi solutions, origination and client coverage; Caroline Owen, head of renminbi solutions for the Americas; Alexandra Gropp, head of renminbi solutions for Europe; and Lisa O’Connor, director of renminbi solutions.
Ling, who joins the bank from Citi, is based in Hong Kong and reports to Darcy Lai, head of origination and client coverage for Northeast Asia. At Citi, Ling held a number of senior positions, most recently head of global transaction services for Hong Kong.
The other external hire is O'Connor, who joined StanChart from financial messaging provider Swift, where she was the initiative director for renminbi internationalisation and responsible for Swift’s global renminbi strategy. She is also based in Hong Kong and reports to Ling.
Owen and Gropp are internal promotions. Based in New York, Owen reports to Jeremy Bollington, head of origination and client coverage for the Americas. Before taking her new role, she was head of debt capital markets for North America.
Owen has led transactions for issuers such as McDonald’s, Caterpillar Financial and International Finance Corporation.
Gropp is based in London and reports to Tarek Anwar, head of origination and client coverage for Europe. Gropp previously held roles in the bank’s capital markets team, including covering origination and execution of dim-sum bonds and Asian local-currency bonds for European clients.
Coutts hires China desk head in London
UK private bank Coutts has appointed Vivienne Ng as head of the China desk for its international business in London.
In this newly created role, she is tasked with enhancing the links between the Asian and UK operations, and bolstering the UK business’s international strategy.
Ng was formerly a director for Credit Suisse Greater China and southeast Asia team in the UK, responsible for developing the private client business. She has also held roles at UBS and Mitsubishi Bank.
Other people moves reported by AsianInvestor this week:
Incoming AMP chief targets AUM turnaround in Asia