Weekly roundup of people news, Aug 9
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BLACKROCK NAMES NEW ASIA COO
BlackRock appointed Tomoko Ueda as chief operating officer for Asia Pacific, effective September 3.
This appointment expands Ueda’s role, who oversees all business operations in the region and leads the finance, corporate strategy and development teams.
She reports to Head of Asia Pacific Susan Chan and will relocate to Hong Kong from Tokyo.
Ueda joined BlackRock in 2022 as APAC head of corporate strategy and development.
She has previously worked at Nikko Asset Management in Japan.
She succeeds James Raby, who is relocating to New York to take on the role of global head of compliance.
PRUDENTIAL APPOINTS GREATER CHINA CEO AS LILIAN NG RETIRES
Prudential announced that Lilian Ng, managing director, strategic business group, has decided to retire at the end of this year after a 30-year tenure with the company.
Angel Ng, a former senior leader from Citi, will assume the role of regional CEO, Greater China, customer and wealth.
Reporting to CEO Anil Wadhwani and based in Hong Kong, Angel Ng will join the group executive committee effective October 1.
Lilian Ng became a member of Prudential’s group executive committee in July 2022, managing Prudential’s businesses in Greater China and leading the group’s customer and distribution strategies.
In 2015, she was appointed chief executive, insurance, Asia, responsible for leading the life insurance businesses and operational performance across the region.
She will remain in her current role until the end of the year to facilitate a seamless transition.
She will then become an advisor to the CEO, until June 2025.
Angel Ng most recently led all lines of business in Citi’s Asia north and Australia cluster including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
She has worked in different leadership roles at Citi.
Angel Ng is actively involved in various boards and committees across the Hong Kong community and is an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong.
CBUS HIRES HEAD OF PORTFOLIO CONSTRUCTION
Building and construction industry super fund Cbus appointed Justin Pascoe as head of portfolio construction.
Based in Melbourne, Pascoe will report directly to Brett Chatfield, the fund's chief investment officer.
His appointment follows the departure of Cbus’s former head of portfolio management Mark Ferguson in May.
Pascoe was most recently at AustralianSuper, where he was the head of equities.
He left AustralianSuper due to a restructuring of the investment team in December 2022, with Shaun Manuell taking over as head of Australian equities and Mark Hargraves subsequently appointed in 2023 as head of international and private equity.
Pascoe's career history includes eight years as chief investment officer at VFMC, roles at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, and a position as chief investment officer for Asia ex-Japan at State Street Global Advisors.
NZ SUPER NAMES NEW CHIEF RISK OFFICER
The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, which manages the NZ Super Fund, promoted Michael Mitchell to chief risk officer (CRO).
Mitchell, who was previously the Guardians' head of risk, has been acting CRO since the retirement of Mark Fennell earlier this year.
He will report to Guardians CEO Jo Townsend.
Mitchell's appointment comes after an extensive search and recruitment process.
He joined the Guardians in 2005 and has been with the organisation for nearly two decades.
His career history includes roles at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Morgan Stanley, Westpac Investment Management, and ABN Amro.
FIDELITY HIRES FOR ASIA EQUITIES TEAM
Fidelity International appointed Cynthia Chen as portfolio manager in the Asian equities team, effective August 19.
Based in Hong Kong, Chen reports to Marty Dropkin, head of equities in Asia Pacific, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
From September 1, Chen will have responsibility as lead portfolio manager for the Fidelity Retirement Master Trust - Hong Kong Equity Fund, Fidelity Global Investment Fund – Hong Kong Equity Fund and Fidelity Advantage Portfolio – Hong Kong Equity Fund.
Chen will take on her portfolio manager responsibilities from Ronald Chung, who will move to the equity research team as a senior analyst.
Chen will join from PineBridge Investments, where she has been since 2007 and was most recently portfolio manager for the firm’s Greater China and Hong Kong equity funds.
Her last day at PineBridge will be August 16, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Simon Tsoi, secondary portfolio manager of the Greater China and Hong Kong equity portfolios and equity analyst, will take on the role of lead portfolio manager for the PineBridge Greater China and Hong Kong equity funds.
He will report to Elizabeth Soon, head of Asia ex-Japan equities, the spokesperson added.
NEUBERGER BERMAN HIRES FOR SG, SE ASIA DISTRIBUTION
Neuberger Berman appointed Madeline Ho head of intermediary sales for Singapore and Southeast Asia, effective August 1.
Based in Singapore, Ho will report to Jose Cosio, head of intermediary for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), LATAM (Latin America), and APAC.
She replaces Vincent Lim, who used to lead Hong Kong and Singapore intermediary sales at Neuberger Berman, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Lim stepped down from his role by end of July to take a break from his career, the spokesperson added.
While Ho’ focus is on Singapore and Southeast Asia, Pauline Cheng, head of business development of financial institutions in Hong Kong, will continue to lead the intermediary sales team in Hong Kong.
Ho was most recently chief commercial officer at SBI Digital Markets, formulating and implementing strategies to originate and distribute tokenized products, including fund products.
SBI did not respond to enquiries at the time of publication.
Ho previously held senior roles in Singapore at Natixis Investment Managers, Fidelity International and Franklin Templeton Investments.
This brief has been updated with new details.
M&G REAL ESTATE STRENGTHENS ASIA LIFE FUND TEAM
M&G Real Estate appointed Jung Wenning as director, portfolio management, fund of funds, Asia life fund.
Based in Singapore, Jung will report to Martin Seol, head of the Asia life fund.
Jung will play a key role in helping manage the global fund of funds portfolio, driving growth in this strategy and generating new investments ideas.
She replaces Jonathan Hsu, who left M&G in May after over seven years with the firm to pursue personal ambitions, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Jung joined from global real estate recruitment and consulting firm Macdonald and Company.
She was previously with Franklin Real Asset Advisors and California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).
NORTHERN TRUST HIRES FOR TWO NEW ROLES
Northern Trust hired Kai Jebens as head of client development, Southeast Asia, and Chris Vera as senior digital solutions consultant, APAC, for its asset servicing business.
Both roles are newly created, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Based in Singapore, Jebens will lead business development efforts, collaborating closely with leading sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, asset managers and consultants across the region.
Jebens reports to Douglass Gee, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa and APAC sales.
He previously held positions at Collibra, BNY Mellon, Fidelity National Information Services, Intercontinental Exchange, and Bloomberg.
Vera joins as senior digital solutions consultant, with 20 years of experience across investment data, technology, operations and consulting.
Prior to joining Northern Trust, Vera held senior positions at BlackRock, AIA, Bank of New York, and a sovereign wealth fund in Singapore, focused on project transformations helping organisations choose and implement solutions for the front, middle and back office.
Vera reports to Ben Bobroff, global head of technology sales consulting.
This brief has been updated with new details.
BNY INVESTMENTS NAMES TAIWAN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT HEAD
BNY Investments appointed Nick Shen as head of business development, Taiwan (offshore).
Based in Hong Kong, Shen will lead offshore sales strategy for BNY Investments’ Taiwan distribution business.
He reports to Deborah Bannon, head of institutional distribution, APAC ex Japan, and consultant relations APAC of BNY Investments.
Shen joins BNY Investments from BlackRock, where he was insurance lead of Taiwan institutional client business.
He was previously with Macquarie Asset Management.
BlackRock didn't respond to a query on Shen's replacement.
FEDERATED HERMES ADDS TO AUSTRALIA DISTRIBUTION TEAM
Federated Hermes appointed Elizabeth White as associate director – business development.
White, based in Sydney, will report to Gary Horton, head of distribution for Australia and New Zealand.
She will be responsible for distribution of Federated Hermes’ products to meet the needs of wholesale, private bank and family office clients across the region.
She was previously an investment adviser at Credit Suisse in Sydney.
Her other previous employers include NMG Consulting, Credit, First Sentier Investors (formerly Colonial Global Asset Management), APN Funds Management (now DEXUS) and Macquarie Bank.