Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 16

JANUS HENDERSON GETS GREATER CHINA EQUITIES HEAD

Victoria Mio

Janus Henderson Investors appointed Victoria Mio as portfolio manager and head of Greater China equities, effective February 13.

She is based in Singapore and reports to Lucas Klein, head of EMEA and APAC equities.

Mio replaces May Ling Wee, who will work closely with Mio to ensure a smooth transfer of responsibilities until Wee departs on April 30 to explore other opportunities, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.

Mio was most recently with Fidelity International where she was based in Hong Kong and head of equity research in Asia Pacific.

Mio left Fidelity in July 2023, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.

After Mio’s departure, the directors of research – who lead the Asia Pacific research analysts – who reported to her report to Marty Dropkin, head of equities in Asia Pacific.

Prior to Fidelity, Mio was at Robeco for 14 years where she last served as chief investment officer China and co-head of Asia Pacific equities.

MALAYSIA’S MILITARY PENSION FUND CHAIRMAN, CHIEF STEP DOWN

Mohamed Affandi Mohamed Noor stepped down as chairman of Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), the pension fund for Malaysia’s armed forces, effective February 8.

Mohamed, a retired general, was appointed chairman of LTAT in August 2021.

The fund’s Chief Executive Ahmad Nazim Abd Rahman also stepped down on January 31.

LTAT, set up in 1972, manages the pension fund for officers and members of other ranks of the Malaysian Armed Forces and its veterans.

LTAT had assets under management of close to RM11.54 billion ($2.41 billion) at the end of December 2023 .

AIA AUSTRALIA APPOINTS NEW CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

 AIA Australia appointeed Susan Turner as its new chief financial officer.

She succeeds Michael Chernov, who was CFO for the past seven years.

Turner’s career spans two decades of senior financial management, and she most recently served as an executive director at the University of Sydney.

Her career includes roles at Zurich, Westpac, BT Financial Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Colonial First State Global Asset Management.

Anna Livingston

In addition, Anna Livingston has been named the chief people and culture officer at AIA.

Livingston's background includes work at Epworth Healthcare and a role at Tennis Australia.

SAVILLS IM APPOINTS APAC EX-JAPAN HEAD

Savills Investment Management appointed Ng Hsueh Ling to the new role of head of Asia Pacific ex-Japan.

Ng Hsueh Ling

Based in Singapore, she reports to chief executive Alex Jeffrey.

AsianInvestor could not ascertain who was previously performing these job functions at the real estate manager before Ng’s hire.

Ng joins from Lendlease, where she has held the role of managing director and country head of Singapore for over six years.

She was also previously CEO of Keppel REIT Management.

WTW GETS NEW JAPAN HEAD

Ryohei (Roy) Nakazawa

Investment advisory firm WTW appointed Ryohei Nakazawa as its new head of Japan and head of corporate risk and broking (CRB) Japan, effective April 1.

Based in Tokyo, he will report to Luke Ware, head of CRB Asia, as well as Simon Weaver, head of Asia Pacific and head of CRB Asia Pacific.

Nakazawa replaces Dean Enomoto who retired in December 2023, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor. 

The spokesperson said  the new hire will oversee all operations of WTW in Japan, especially the insurance broking business.

Nakazawa will join WTW from Starr Insurance Japan, where he is currently CEO and legal representative.

Starr did not respond to AsianInvestor's enquiries regarding his replacement at the time of publication.

Prior to Starr, Nakazawa worked for insurance broking and risk management firm Marsh.

MORNINGSTAR APPOINTS SOUTHEAST ASIA MD

Shihan Abeyguna

Morningstar appointed Shihan Abeyguna to the new role of managing director of Southeast Asia, in addition to his current role as head of business development in Asia and regional leader of Southeast Asia.

Abeyguna, based in Singapore, continues to report to Julie Willoughby, head of global sales at Morningstar.

Abeyguna has worked for over 15 years at Morningstar in a wide range of leadership roles in product, strategy, and sales.

AsianInvestor could not ascertain who was previously doing the job functions Abeyguna will handle in the new role.

VALUE PARTNERS BULKS UP EMEA BUSINESS 

Thomas Legendre

Value Partners (UK), the UK arm of the Hong Kong-based asset management firm Value Partners Group, promoted Thomas Legendre to associate director of EMEA business effective February 13.

In his new role, Legendre will expand distribution capabilities in the EMEA region, notably across Switzerland.

Legendre’s new responsibilities include working with private banks, family offices, private wealth managers and financial institutions. to identify the most suitable Value Partners’ investment solutions for their China and Asia needs.

Based in London, Legendre will have regular outbound travel to financial hubs such as Basel, Geneva, Lausanne, and Zürich to meet with clients and support help them throughout this process.

Legendre joined Value Partners in October 2020 and works alongside David Townsend, managing director of Value Partner’s EMEA Business.

He has also worked with for multi-family office Beauclerc in London and in private banking at Societe Generale in Geneva.