Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 28
LGIASUPER SEEKS TWO PORTFOLIO MANAGERS IN REORG
LGIAsuper, the default superannuation fund for Queensland local government employees, wants to hire two portfolio managers to complement the two senior analysts on its investment team.
The Brisbane-based A$13 billion ($8.4 billion) fund is also setting up an investment operations team with the aim of improving investment efficiency, said Troy Rieck, who joined as chief investment officer in September. This used to be part of the investment team, he told AsianInvestor, but it now warrants a specific focus.
The new portfolio managers’ exact mix of skills and experience will come down to the applicants’ capabilities, the fund’s current skill set and its desired outcomes for members, said Rieck. They will bring the investment team headcount back up to five, he added.
LGIAsuper's planned appointments reflect a change in emphasis since the retirement of previous CIO David Todd and the departure of the head of investments, Rieck said. The fund is also looking to deal with a changing regulatory landscape and a challenging, lower-return environment, he added.
HSBC GLOBAL AM NAMES NEW SINGAPORE AND JAPAN CHIEFS
HSBC Global Asset Management has appointed Patrice Conxicoeur as chief executive for Singapore and head of Southeast Asia, subject to regulatory approval.
He is currently Japan CEO and will be succeeded by Masayuki Kaneko, who is currently deputy head of global banking and head of the financial institutions group for Japan.
Conxicoeur replaces Puneet Chadda, who had held the role since November 2015 and left in December 2019 to pursue other opportunities, said a spokeswoman for HSBC.
In his new role Conxicoeur continues to report to Pedro Bastos, Hong Kong-based CEO for Asia Pacific but will also report to Anurag Mathur, Singapore head of retail banking and wealth management at HSBC. Masuyaki will now report to Bastos and to Edward Weeks, HSBC's Japan CEO.
The appointments came after HSBC announced a global restructuring and layoffs last week, which will affect its asset and wealth management businesses in Asia.
PIMCO'S SINGAPORE HEAD TODD STALEY RETURNS TO US
Pimco’s head of global wealth management (GWM) for Hong Kong and Singapore and head of the Singapore office, Todd Staley, will relocate to the fund house’s headquarters in Newport Beach, California to take up a new role.
He will remain in Asia for the next few months to ensure a smooth transition, and Pimco is in the process of identifying his replacement, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
In April, Staley will become head of the private client group on the US GWM team to replace Barbara Clancy.
Clancy is taking on a new role as head of Latin America and the Caribbean. She will remain in New York and report to Tom Otterbein, head of institutional client management for the Americas.
MATTHEWS ASIA HIRES GLOBAL CIO
US fund house Matthews Asia hired Wang Yu-Ming, formerly of Japan's Nikko Asset Management, as president and global chief investment officer on February 1.
In this newly created role based in the firm's San Francisco headquarters, Wang has taken over responsibility for the overall strategic leadership and long-term planning of the investment team. He reports to Matthews Asia’s CEO Bill Hackett.
Following Wang's arrival, Robert Horrocks continues in his role as CIO, with no changes to his day-to-day portfolio oversight responsibilities.
Wang joined from Nikko Asset Management, where he had been New York-based senior executive investment adviser at Nikko Asset Management Americas until January 31, a spokesman said. Before that Wang had been Nikko AM's co-CIO, and was based in Tokyo until June 2019.
JP MORGAN NAMES APAC CEO
JP Morgan has promoted Filippo Gori to chief executive for Asia Pacific from deputy CEO as of February 27 in addition to his existing roles as Asia-Pacific head of banking and Hong Kong CEO. The role includes oversight of the regional asset management and wealth management businesses.
Nicolas Aguzin was previously regional CEO and CEO of JP Morgan's international (non-US) private bank, and he retains the latter role.
Gori remains in Hong Kong in his new capacity and reports to Mary Erdoes, New York-based asset and wealth management CEO, and Daniel Pinto, London-based corporate and investment banking CEO and co-president and co-chief operating officer at JP Morgan Chase.
FIDELITY APPOINTS HK WHOLESALE HEAD
Fidelity International has appointed Marcella Pun as head of Hong Kong wholesale business as of February 27, to replace Priscilla Leung.
Leung had left in March last year and joined T. Rowe Price as Greater China head of intermediaries on June 13.
Pun reports to Kim Ping Luk, head of Hong Kong at Fidelity.
Prior to joining Fidelity, Pun was head of Hong Kong intermediary business at JP Morgan Asset Management. She left in mid-January, and JP Morgan AM is seeking a replacement, said a spokeswoman.
Pun has also worked at other asset managers, including BlackRock and Societe Generale.
UBS AM’S FORMER APAC HEAD WILL NOT RETURN
Buehlmann had originally said he planned to return to take up another role at UBS. AsianInvestor could not ascertain his next move.
Raymond Yin had replaced Buehlmann as head of Asia Pacific on February 1, in addition to his role as head of China onshore.
J. SAFRA SARASIN SHUFFLES ASIA LEADERSHIP
Swiss private bank J. Safra Sarasin has appointed Andy Chai and Vinay Gandhi as chief executive and deputy chief executive for Asia, respectively.
Chai joined on February 21 from BNP Paribas, where he was Asia-Pacific co-CEO of wealth management. Based in Hong Kong, he reports to Daniel Belfer, CEO of J. Safra Sarasin.
Chai has succeeded Enid Yip, who has stepped down and become a board member of the bank.
These changes coincided with the retirement of Yelandur Nagendra, who has been replaced by Gandhi. Based in Singapore, he reports to Chai and retains his role as Singapore CEO.