Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 23
INDONESIA’S SWF NAMES NEW CHIEF RISK OFFICER
Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) named a new chief risk officer to take over from Marita Alisjahbana after she finished her term on February 15.
Thomas Soegiarto Oentoro took over as CRO from February 19.
He was most recently vice president of the mezzanine capital unit at OCBC and is also an independent commissioner for airline Garuda Indonesia.
He has previously worked at private equity fund KV Asia Capital and International Finance Corporation.
Alisjahbana had been with INA since the wealth fund’s inception in early 2021.
EASTSPRING PICKS NEW CIO FROM HSBC AM
Eastspring Investments, the asset management arm of Prudential plc, appointed Vis Nayar as chief investment officer, effective June 3, 2024.
Based in Singapore, Nayar will report to Eastspring’s chief executive officer Bill Maldonado and will join the Eastspring executive management committee.
Nayar is taking over the CIO role from Maldonado who was previously CIO and currently interim CIO since September 1, 2023, when Maldonado assumed the Eastspring CEO position, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Nayar will be joining from HSBC Asset Management where he was based in London and most recently global CIO of equities.
While not joining Eastspring until June, Nayar has already left HSBC after 25 years, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Pierin Menzli, currently CIO of thematic equities at HSBC AM, will act as global CIO of equities until a permanent appointment is made. Menzli will retain his current responsibilities and remain based in Switzerland, the spokesperson added.
ESSSUPER HIRES NEW HEAD OF STRATEGY
Australian superannuation fund, ESSSuper has appointed Rosalyn deVries as head of strategy and insights.
DeVries reports to Duncan Winton, group executive of strategy, brand and insights.
She is tasked with leading the fund's strategy and data insight teams, following Sue Johnson’s departure to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
DeVries was previously with Catholic Church Insurance and brings experience to the role from her time at UniSuper and Club Assist Asia Pacific.
GAW CAPTIAL GETS MD FROM ADIA
Harry Ip has returned to Hong Kong and rejoined real estate asset management specialist Gaw Capital Partners, effective January, after more than 13 years with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
Relocating to Hong Kong, Ip’s title is managing director of investment, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
“He will help strengthen our investment team, bringing his insights from the years working in the Middle East region,” the spokesperson added.
Ip left his position as a senior portfolio manager in the Asia Pacific team in ADIA’s real estate department at the start of January, AsianInvestor understands.
He joined Adia in 2010 and was based at ADIA’s headquarter in Abu Dhabi. His responsibilities have transferred to other members of the Asia Pacific team.
Before joining Adia, Ip spent a little more than a year at Gaw Capital as an investment director.
MACQUARIE AM CHANGES REAL ESTATE HEAD
Brett Robson, global head of real estate for Macquarie Asset Management, will be transitioning out of his current role.
Eric Wurtzebach, who has been with Macquarie since 2008 and currently leads the real estate division’s principal investment and asset management activities in the Americas, will transition into the global head of real estate role over the coming months, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
This spokesperson declined to clarify when exactly Robson would step down and whether Wurtzebach would relocate for his new role. Wurtzebach has been with Sydney-based Macquarie since 2008.
Robson has worked at Macquarie since 2003, according to his LinkedIn profile.
HKEX WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBERS
The Hong Kong government on February 16 appointed Chan Kin-por and Peter Yan, and re-appointed Susan Chow, to the board of directors of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX).
The terms of the three directors will begin after HKEX’s 2024 annual general meeting (AGM) in April and will end after the AGM in 2026.
HKEX chairman Laura Cha and Independent non-executive director Benjamin Hung will retire from the board after the conclusion of the 2024 AGM, after serving in their roles for six years.
HKEX’s board will meet after April’s AGM to appoint a chairman from its members.
Cha became HKEX chairman in May 2018.
Before that, she was chairman of the Financial Services Development Council of Hong Kong from 2013 to 2018. She was vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission from 2001 to 2004. She worked for the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong from 1991 to 2000, becoming its deputy chairman in 1998.
Hung is Asia chief executive officer at Standard Chartered Bank.
The new board member Chan serves in many public service roles in Hong Kong. He has been an Executive Council member of the Hong Kong government since 2022, and deputy chairman of the house committee of the Hong Kong Legislative Council since 2024.
Chan is a veteran in the insurance industry. He used to be director and general manager of Hang Seng Insurance Company; CEO of the Munich Reinsurance Company Hong Kong branch; CEO of Well Link Insurance Group Holdings.
Another new board member Yan is CEO of the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company, and adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was executive director and CEO of Hong Kong-listed Computer and Technologies Holdings.
In another development, HKEX CEO Nicolas Aguzin will leave his post earlier on February 29 this year ahead of the planned May 2024 when his term ends, as the transition with the new CEO Bonnie Chan has been proceeding smoothly and effectively, HKEX announced on February 9.
HKEX announced in December 2023 that Aguzin would not seek reappointment at the end of his term.
As a result, the new CEO Chan will begin her term on March 1, 2024, until February 28, 2027.
MSCI NAMES HEAD OF AUSTRALIA AND NZ CLIENT COVERAGE
MSCI has announced Shane Edwards as the new managing director and head of Australia and New Zealand client coverage, effective February 19.
Based in Sydney, Edwards reports to Kazuya Nagasawa, the head of client coverage in Asia Pacific.
Edwards was previously managing director and global head of equity derivatives at UBS, and leading structured sales and trading at the Royal Bank of Scotland.