Weekly roundup of people news, Dec 9
ONTARIO TEACHERS’ NAMES GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT LEAD
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') announced the appointment of Anna Murray as its new senior managing director and global head of sustainable investing with effect from December 5. She will be based in Ontario, Canada.
Murray will work closely with senior leaders and investment teams across the organisation and will execute on the fund’s climate strategy and net-zero targets, and will oversee corporate governance activities, including proxy voting and public company engagements.
She will also oversee the continued integration and assessment of ESG opportunities and risks in the investment process.
Murray was previously global head of ESG for Sun Life Capital Management. She also worked as global head of ESG with BentallGreenOak, SLC Management's real estate investment manager and provider of real estate services.
Murray is co-chair of the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) Real Estate Advisory Committee and of the Environmental Committee at the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA). She also serves on the board of directors for the Responsible Investment Association and the Canada Green Building Council.
Sun Life Capital Management did not respond to AsianInvestor's request for comment on Murray’s replacement.
Ontario Teachers' did not respond to AsianInvestor's query on who was handling Murray's responsibilities before her appointment at the time of publication.
AWARE SUPER HIRES HEAD OF INCOME ASSETS
Australia's Aware Super has hired Sonia Baillie as its head of income assets based in Sydney. She joins the super fund from Macquarie Asset Management with effect from December 1.
She reports to Aware Super's Head of Income and Markets Michael Clavin, and will play a key role in the strategic development of the fund's income asset portfolio.
She will also lead the team responsible for cash, conservative income, fixed income and credit income.
Bailey has also previously worked at Nomura.
Aware Super did not respond to an AsianInvestor query on who was handling Baillie's responsibilties before her appointment.
AUSTRALIAN ETHICAL NAMES SUPERANNUATION CEO
Ross Piper has been appointed chief executive, superannuation, at Australian Ethical following the fund’s merger with Christian Super. He will continue to be based in Sydney.
As part of the leadership team, Piper will oversee the firm's superannuation business and operations for the broader business.
He brings over two decades of executive leadership experience to the role, and has worked with Macquarie Bank, World Vision International, Christian Super and AgroInvest among others.
Piper currently sits on various other boards for organisations focused on social enterprise and technology and is a director of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia.
ICG HIRES EX-KEPPEL CAPITAL ALTERNATE ASSET SPECIALISTS
Alternative asset manager ICG appointed a five-member team to invest in Asia Pacific infrastructure equity, with a focus on mid-market transactions, corporate-led deals and scaling platforms.
The new team comprises five investment professionals based in Singapore and Sydney, with all the new hires coming from Keppel Capital Alternate Asset.
The team will be led by Devarshi Das, who was named managing director and head of Asia-Pacific infrastructure equity.
Das has more than two decades of infrastructure investing experience, and was previously CEO of infrastructure at Keppel Capital Alternative Asset. His LinkedIn profile shows he was with Keppel until September.
Some of his former Keppel Capital team are also joining ICG - David Richardson as managing director, Hector Wang as principal, and Mark Teoh as associate. All of them are based in Singapore.
Isabelle Demir also joins the team as managing director in Sydney, Australia. She joined ICG in 2021 from Frontier Advisors, where she was head of real assets and private equity.
ICG Infrastructure Asia-Pacific will focus on sectors such as renewable energy, electric vehicle transition, digital infrastructure, recycling and the circular economy.
The team will predominantly focus on mature markets within Asia Pacific.
ICG did not respond to AsianInvestor queries at the time of publication on when the new hires joined the company or who was handling Asia-Pacific infrastructure investments before the creation of the new team.
Keppel Capital Alternative Asset also did not respond to AsianInvestor queries on whether any replacements were named, who is handling the previous team’s functions, and when the above named individuals left the company.
RAFFLES FAMILY OFFICE APPOINTS NEW CIO OF REVO
Raffles Family Office (RFO), a multi-family office, announced the appointment of Zann Kwan as chief investment officer and managing partner of Revo Digital Family Office (Revo), on December 8 with immediate effect.
She will work closely with Revo’s Chief Executive Officer Ray Tam, and will be based in Singapore.
Revo, an Asia-based multi-family office for digital assets was launched in October and enables ultra-high net worth families to access and invest in digital assets via a wealth management platform.
Kwan was most recently a member of RFO’s independent advisory board, and was a co-founder of Bitcoin Exchange Pte Ltd, the company behind the first public bitcoin machine in Asia, as well as virtual asset service provider Deodi Pte Ltd.
In addition, Rizal Wijono has been named as a new member of the independent advisory board, with immediate effect.
Wijono was most recently with Micro Connect Group as a managing director in the investor relations team. Wijono launched the group’s private equity platform.
He will primarily assist RFO in exploring opportunities with European family offices looking for a gateway to Asia.
MFS IM NAMES NEW ASIA DISTRIBUTION HEAD, SINGAPORE CEO
Sally Choo has been named head of distribution for Asia ex-Japan for MFS Investment Management Singapore, effective January 1. She will also become CEO of MFS International Singapore on June 30, 2023.
She replaces Jonathan Tiu, CEO, MFS International Singapore, and senior managing director, Asia, who will retire from MFS in August 2023.
She will be based in Singapore and will report to US-based Topher Callahan, global head of institutional sales and consultant relations.
Choo, who joined MFS in March, will be responsible for driving the growth of the firm’s businesses in Asia ex-Japan.
Choo will continue in her current institutional sales role in addition to becoming head of distribution for Asia ex Japan. MFS will look to add an associate director for institutional sales based in Singapore to assist Choo and the team, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Before joining MFS, she was head of institutional business, Asia ex-China ex-Japan for Amundi Asset Management. She has also worked for State Street Global Advisors Singapore, Mercer and Watson Wyatt.
MFS Investment Management services approximately $38 billion of client assets across the Asia Pacific.
PGIM INVESTMENTS HIRES INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION HEAD
PGIM Investments appointed Matt Shafer as head of international distribution with effect from December 1.
He will be based in London and report to Stuart Parker, president and CEO of PGIM Investments.
In this newly created role, Shafer will spearhead the firm’s growth plans in wholesale and retail markets outside the US, leading intermediary distribution strategy in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
His focus will be broadening PGIM Investments’ relationships with private banks, independent wealth managers, fund of funds, family offices and other distributors.
Shafer joins from BNY Mellon Investment Management and was also previously with Natixis Investment Managers.
BNY Mellon Investment Management did not respond to AsianInvestors’ query on Shafer’s replacement at the time of publication.