Weekly roundup of people news, Dec 2
REST SUPER APPOINTS INDEPENDENT CHAIR
Australian superannuation fund Rest announced the appointment of new independent chair and independent director James Merlino on December 1.
Merlino will join Rest on January 1, 2023, after a 20-year career with the Victorian government.
His most recent positions were deputy premier, minister for education and minister for mental health.
Merlino will take over the role when current independent chair Ken Marshman finishes his term on 31 December.
Marshman was appointed independent director in December 2013 and as independent chair of the board in July 2014.
ALLIANZGI HIRES CIO FOR ASIA FIXED INCOME
Allianz Global Investors announced on November 30 that Jenny Zeng will join the firm in 2023 as its new chief investment officer for Asia fixed income.
She will be based in Hong Kong and will be responsible for the continued build-out of the firm’s $6 billion Asia fixed income franchise.
Zeng joins from AllianceBernstein, where she worked for the past nine years. She was most recently its co-head of Asian fixed income and responsible officer for Hong Kong.
She has a 16-year background in credit research and has investment experience across the region’s markets.
Zeng will succeed David Tan at the end of January 2023. Tan plans on taking a break from the asset management industry following ten years at AllianzGI.
He will be based in Sydney and report to Chief Executive Alexis George.
Fredricson will replace James Georgeson who had worked at the firm since 2001 and has held senior finance positions across its Australian and New Zealand businesses.
He will be responsible for leading the financial and strategic activities of the organisation across financial control, statutory and regulatory reporting, performance reporting, tax, investor relations, treasury, M&A, strategic sourcing, and workplace experience.
Most recently, Fredricson was acting chief executive and chief financial officer of Oil Search Limited, where he oversaw the merger with Santos. Before that, he was chief financial officer of APA Group.
He has 15 years of experience in financial services and investment banking and has worked for Merrill Lynch, Tower Corporation and Grant Samuel.
HKEX CO-CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER RESIGNS
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s (HKEX) co-chief operating officer and head of exchange operations and transformation John Buckley has resigned after a year with the bourse, following his decision to relocate with his family, HKEX announced on November 25, with effect from the following day.
The operational responsibilities of Buckley as co-chief operating officer will be assumed by Yiu Ka Yan, or Wilfred Yiu, currently co-chief operating officer, who will become the sole chief operating officer of HKEX.
Yiu will continue to hold positions as
the chief executive of both The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Futures Exchange, which are wholly-owned subsidiaries of HKEX.
Buckley has 30 years of experience in the financial industry.
He joined HKEX in November 2021 as the head of exchange operations and transformation and took on the additional role of co-chief operating officer alongside Yiu in June after President and Chief Operating Officer Calvin Tai’s retirement.
Before HKEX, Buckley held leadership roles at Citadel Enterprise Asia, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Omnium, and Lehman Brothers across Asia Pacific.
HKEX declined to comment on who will take over Buckley's responsibilities as head of exchange operations and transformation.
CBC GROUP HIRES FROM GIC, JACK MA’S FAMILY OFFICE
Singapore-based healthcare-focused asset manager CBC Group has appointed Irvine Yeo as senior director and head of technology, and Li Jianmin as senior director and global head of finance.
Yeo joins from GIC, where he spent over six years and was most recently the head of technology in the US until August, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Li joins CBC from Hangzhou-based Enbao Asset Management, the family office of Alibaba’s co-founder Jack Ma, where he was regional chief financial officer.
GIC did not respond to queries on Yeo's replacement.
JANUS HENDERSON HIRES CHIEF RESPONSIBILITY OFFICER
Janus Henderson Group has hired Michelle Dunstan as chief responsibility officer, effective January 9, 2023.
She will continue to be based in New York and will report to Ali Dibadj, chief executive officer of Janus Henderson.
Dunstan will be responsible for overseeing the firm’s corporate responsibility and responsible investing efforts. She will work with Janus Henderson's existing ESG teams to optimise the firm’s approaches and frameworks to responsible investing and corporate responsibility efforts.
Dunstan joins from AllianceBernstein, where she spent the last 18 years in a variety of roles, including as global equities portfolio manager and senior research analyst, and was most recently its chief responsibility officer.
She developed and maintained AllianceBernstein’s corporate ESG strategy, and co-created and co-managed one of their ESG-focused equity portfolios.
AllianceBernstein did not respond to AsianInvestor's request for comment on Dunstan's replacement at the time of publication.
LION GLOBAL INVESTORS NAMES CEO
Singapore-based asset manager Lion Global Investors said its chief investment officer Teo Joo Wah will become chief executive officer, following CEO Gerard Lee’s retirement.
Lee will retire as CEO effective December 1 after 12 years in the role. He will remain as senior advisor to the company to help with the transition until his official retirement from the company on April 16, 2023.
Lee has over 30 years of investment management experience. He was the former CIO of Temasek’s fund management division from 1999 to 2004, and later became CEO of Fullerton Fund Management Company, before joining Lion Global Investors as CEO in November 2010.
Incoming CEO Teo has led the investment division since 2014. He has more than 34 years of banking and investment experience.
He started his banking career with DBS Bank and had previously worked at Temasek Holdings as a director in the fund management division.
He was also a senior vice president with Fullerton Fund Management Company.
FEDERATED HERMES APPOINTS APAC WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR
Federated Hermes Limited has hired Mei Lin Tan as director of wholesale distribution in Asia Pacific. She started in November and is replacing Alex Ng, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor, not elaborating on when Ng stepped down.
Based in Singapore and reporting to Jakob Nilsson, head of Asia Pacific distribution, Tan will be responsible for raising third-party assets and delivering new business targets in line with the Asia Pacific sales strategy.
Tan joins the firm from NN Investment Partners where she spent five years as senior vice president based in Singapore, supporting sales distribution efforts for private banking distribution channels for North and South Asia. NN Investment Partners declined to comment on Tan's replacement or when she left the firm.
She was previously based in Hong Kong and held a similar role at Investec Asset Management. Tan started her career in the private banking divisions of Merrill Lynch International Bank and Bank Julius Baer.