Weekly roundup of people news, Dec 10
CPPIB APPOINTS NEW REGIONAL HEADS OF ASIA AND EUROPE
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) announced on December 7 the appointment of two senior executive leaders, effective immediately.
Agus Tandiono has been appointed to senior managing director, regional head. He will also retain his previous title and responsibilities as head of fundamental equities in Asia, according to a news release.
Maximilian Biagosch has also been named as the senior managing director and regional head in Europe, while retaining his current role as head of direct private equity.
Prior to joining CPPIB in 2014, Tandiona held senior roles at Citadel (Asia) and Fidelity Investments (HK). In his new position, he replaces Suyi Kim, who became senior managing director and global head of private equity on September 15.
Biagosch joined CPPIB in 2015 and was most recently managing director, head of portfolio value creation. Prior to joining the organisation, he held senior roles at Permira Advisers LLP and was an investment banker at Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas in London.
AUSTRALIAN SUPER GROUP EXECUTIVE TO DEPART
AustralianSuper’s group executive for technology services Felicia Trewin resigned two weeks ago, according to a LinkedIn post. She will join Australian wealth management company AMP as chief technology officer and member of the group executive committee, starting March 1, AMP announced on December 1.
Trewin will report to AMP chief executive Alexis George in the new role.
AustralianSuper will commence an external recruitment process in the new year for Trewin’s replacement. In the interim, Peter Curtis, group executive finance and operations will have executive accountability for technology services, the super fund said on December 1.
Based in Melbourne, Trewin has more than 25 years of experience in technology. She joined AustralianSuper in July 2018 and was most recently the group executive for technology services, leading the technology function and strategy globally.
AustralianSuper’s assets under management were $175 billion as of the end of June.
FORMER HKMA REGULATOR JOINS PICTET ASSET MANAGEMENT BOARD
Seasoned Hong Kong financial regulator Martin Matsui has left the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to become a non-executive director to the board of Pictet Asset Management Holding, the Swiss holding company that controls all the asset management entities in the Pictet Group, with effect from December 1, the firm announced.
From December 2021 onwards, the Pictet Asset Management board will consist of eight members with the addition of Matsui.
For the last 20 years, Matsui has worked at the HKMA, the city’s de facto central bank. He was most recently the chief strategy officer, responsible for asset allocation for the exchange fund and its Exchange Fund Investment Office, which manages Hong Kong’s foreign reserves. During this past year, he was advisor to the chief executive of the Exchange Fund Investment Office.
He retired from the HKMA in July, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
EX-KHAZANAH MD JOINS TELECOM GIANT AS CHAIR
Malaysia-based telecom conglomerate Axiata Group Bhd has appointed Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, former Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director, as chair, effective on January 1.
He was appointed to the Axiata Board as independent non-executive director, effective November 29.
Shahril was with Malaysia SWF Khazanah as managing director from August 2018 to August 2021, and currently also serves as non-executive director of Malaysia Airlines Bhd and the Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd.
Previously, he was chief executive officer of the Employees Provident Fund from 2013 to 2018. He was deputy CEO of the retirement fund for over three years before that.
Khazanah Nasional appointed Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir as its new managing director in July as his replacement.
Shahril replaces Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid, who will retire on December 31. Ghazalli has been a member of the board since 2008 and chairperson since 2018.
ALLIANZ GI HEAD OF CHINA INSTITUTIONAL BUSINESS DEPARTS
HarbourVest Partners, a global private markets asset manager, has named Cicely Sun as managing director and co-head of the firm’s Beijing office. Sun will be responsible for enhancing and building relationships with institutional investors in China.
She reports to global head of investor relations Jamie Kase and regional head Hemal Mirani. She joined November 22, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Sun has more than 15 years of experience in finance and joins HarbourVest from Allianz Global Investors (Allianz GI), where she was head of China institutional business. Prior to joining Allianz, she held senior roles at State Street Global Markets, Standard Chartered Bank, and Goldman Sachs.
Allianz GI declined to comment on Sun's replacement.
MINE SUPER NAMES NEW CEO
The Australian mining industry pension fund, Mine Super has appointed Vasyl Nair as its new chief executive officer following the departure of Harry Mitchell in March this year.
Nair has been acting chief executive since Mitchell's departure and has now been appointed to the role of permanently, effective from November 30.
Prior to his appointment, Nair was deputy chief executive at the A$13 billion ($9.30 billion) fund for about a year, having been promoted from chief risk officer. He first joined the fund as chief strategy officer in July 2016.
"Over the past five years, Vasyl has been an integral part of the executive team that has overseen a rebrand, new administration platform implementation, investment strategy overhaul, insurer change and risk transformation," said Mine Super chair Grahame Kelly said in a statement.
Before joining Mine Super, Nair previously held senior roles with the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and law firm Piper Alderman.
AXA IM ADDS TWO NEW HIRES TO ASIAN INSTITUTIONAL SALES TEAM
AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) announced two new appointments to its institutional sales team in Asia on December 7. Daniel Cao and Sharon Tan have joined the firm's Client Group Core Asia Pacific team effective from the announcement date.
Cao, who is based in Hong Kong, has taken up the role of director for North Asia institutional sales, while Tan has accepted the role of director of Southeast Asia institutional sales and will be based in Singapore. Both individuals will be responsible for their respective markets and provide fixed income, equities, multi-asset and ESG investment solutions to meet investor needs within the region.
Both Cao and Tan will report to Asia head of institutional sales Carmen Lai.
Tan most recently worked as a director in the institutional business at the Bank of Singapore, while Cao joins from Pimco where he led client coverage across both traditional fixed income and private alternative solutions for insurance, banking and corporate clients in Hong Kong and China.
VETERAN STEWART ALDCROFT JOINS MIRAE AM
Mirae Asset Global Investments (Hong Kong) has appointed Stewart Aldcroft to serve as an independent non-executive director of the Global X Exchange Traded Funds Series OFC.
Stewart was previously chairman of Cititrust Limited in Hong Kong and senior advisor for Citi's Securities Services business for Asia Pacific. He has also held a variety of positions for traditional, hedge, structured and alternative fund houses across Asia.
AsianInvestor reported Aldcroft’s departure in August.
The Global X Exchange Traded Funds Series OFC is a Hong Kong public umbrella open-ended fund company with variable capital that was incorporated in 2019.
NUVEEN NAMES HEAD OF REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS FOR GREATER CHINA
Nuveen appointed David Chan as head of real estate transactions for Greater China at Nuveen Real Estate Asia Pacific, effective October 11. The firm announced on December 8.
Based in Hong Kong, Chan is responsible for sourcing and managing transactions. He reports to Louise Kavanagh, CIO and head of funds management of Nuveen Real Estate APAC, who is also based in Hong Kong.
Chan has more than 11 years of real estate private equity experience. Most recently, he was at Phoenix Property Investors as the firm’s real estate debt strategy expert.
Before that, he worked in H.I.G. Capital in New York, where he was responsible for evaluating, investing and managing value-add and special situation real estate investments across all property types in the US.
FEDERATED HERMES PROMOTES EM PORTFOLIO MANAGER
Federated Hermes promoted Vivek Bhutoria, senior analyst, to co-portfolio manager on the Federated Hermes Global Emerging Markets Equity Fund. Bhutoria will work alongside Kunjal Gala, lead portfolio manager, and his promotion will come into effect on January 4th. Bhutoria reports to Gala.
Bhutoria has 14 years of experience working in emerging markets equity and has been a key contributor to the success of the firm’s emerging markets platform since joining in 2019.
JULIUS BAER PROMOTES HEAD OF FUND SPECIALISTS
Jeffrey Tam has been promoted as head of fund specialists Hong Kong at Bank Julius Baer, the bank announced on December 8.
Based in Hong Kong, he is responsible for funds advisory for clients in Greater China, covering both traditional and alternative investments.
Prior to joining Bank Julius Baer in 2018, Jeffrey was a funds specialist at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management for three years. He started his career in finance at Citi Private Bank, where he was a portfolio advisor.
The bank declined to comment on his reporting line or the replacement of his previous role.
The article has been updated with the date that Matsui retired from HKMA.