Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 5
Hugh Young to become head of investments
UK-based fund house Aberdeen Asset Management will see Hugh Young take on additional responsibilities once chief investment officer Anne Richards departs to M&G Investments.
Young, who serves as head of direct investments (equity, fixed income and property) globally and also runs the firm’s Asia business based out of Singapore, will take on the title head of investments.
Richards is in the process of leaving to become chief executive officer at M&G Investments, the asset management arm of UK insurer Prudential.
Based in London, she has been serving as CIO in charge of Aberdeen AM’s solutions business, overseeing multi-asset, alternatives and quantitative investment.
Andrew McCaffery, currently Aberdeen’s head of alternatives based in London, will become head of the solutions business. He will report to Young.
Richards has also had responsibility for Europe, Middle East and Africa. It is understood this will be taken over by deputy CEO Andrew Laing.
UBS moves Hatecke to SE Asia role
Swiss bank UBS is transferring August Hatecke from Zurich to Singapore to become its new head of wealth management for South-East Asia – a post left vacant after two internal promotions.
Hatecke will take up his new post on April 1 and report to his predecessor in the position, Edmund Koh, who was promoted to head of wealth management Asia-Pacific on January 1. Koh, in turn, took on responsibilities from Kathryn Shih, who became president of the Swiss Group’s Asia-Pacific operation the same day.
Hatecke has held his present role as head of ultra-high-net worth (HNW) clients and global family office (GFO) for Switzerland for six years.
Hatecke has spent 16 years at UBS. In 1992, he joined O’Connor Associates, which was subsequently acquired by UBS, and has since held various leadership positions over his UBS career. Before rejoining UBS in 2010, he was head of private banking for Credit Suisse in St Moritz.
In an internal memo, UBS praised Hatecke's knowledge of the UHNW and GFO segment, with experience in investment advisory, derivatives and risk management. "He will be responsible for strengthening the strategic positioning of Southeast Asia,” the statement read.
A spokesman confirmed that a separate announcement on Hatecke’s successor for UHNW and GFO in Switzerland would be made shortly.
Principal Global Investors hires head of SEA distribution
US asset manager Principal Global Investors (PGI) has announced the appointment of Monica Tang as director for funds distribution in Southeast Asia.
She actually joined the firm back in December based in Singapore and reports to Gaurav Kumar, head of fund distribution for Asia and the Middle East.
Tang is responsible for building the funds distribution business in Southeast Asia with a focus on private banking.
Prior to PGI, Tang was vice-president and senior wholesale representative for managed investments across Asia Pacific at BNY Mellon. She has 15 years' financial services and asset management experience.
Her past roles include assistant director at Eastspring Investments Management in Singapore, responsible for building out the global private banking business, and vice-president and product and portfolio specialist at ING Investment Management in New York.
PGI has been beefing up its team in Singapore lately. In addition to Tang, it also appointed Celestine Khoo as head of Southeast Asia, reporting to Kirk West, chief executive for Asia.
Credit Suisse lures Stoehr back
Swiss bank Credit Suisse annouced it had re-hired Carsten Stoehr from rival Standard Chartered as head of financing for Asia Pacific in what the firm said was a newly created role.
Stoehr took up the role at the start of this month based in Hong Kong. He reports directly to Helman Sitohang, Credit Suisse’s regional chief executive officer, according to an internal memo seen by AsianInvestor.
According to the memo, Stoehr will lead an Asia-Pacific financing team taken from "exiting capabilities" in its emerging markets financing, equity-share-backed lending, corporate banking and private bank structured lending teams.
The new team is intended to provide a centralised structuring, risk management and syndication platform to offer strategic financing to ultra-high net worth entrepreneurs and corporate clients.
The bank's memo noted that Stoehr's appointment was part of its repositioning to refocus the business on higher margin high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs.
Stoehr had previously spent 13 years working at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, Europe and Japan from 1999 to 2012 before he switched to StanChart as head of global capital markets. He was subsequently promoted to global head of financial markets sales, before exiting StanChart in November last year.
A spokesperson for StanChart confirmed that the bank had promoted Vinod Aachi to replace Stoehr, with his appointment effective from November 16 last year.
Old Mutal to acquire Singapore’s AAM Advisory
UK-based wealth manager Old Mutual announced it had signed an agreement to acquire Singapore-based independent financial adviser AAM Advisory, which has about 100 staff and $450 million in assets under advice.
The purchase price was not disclosed, with Old Mutual Wealth indicating that the deal was expected to go through within a few months.
The firm provides platform-based wealth management products and services via Old Mutual Wealth in the UK and Old Mutual International globally. It provides asset management solutions via Old Mutual Global Investors.
However, the public relations firm representing Old Mutual Wealth told AsianInvestor that no spokesperson was available for interview.
AAM Advisory distributes investment products to 3,500 Singaporean residents and expatriates. It has been in operation since 2009 and works with other insurers such as Generali, Friends Provident International and AXA.
Post acquisition, AAM Advisory will remain independently operated under its chief executive officer, Matthew Dabbs, who is part-owner.
Dabbs said of its move to sell: “We were looking for a partner. We both see opportunities for growth. It is a distribution play for Old Mutual Wealth. But we can still offer other companies’ products.”
Hong Leong Group reshuffles CEOs
Financial services group Hong Leong announced a leadership reshuffle, naming Tan Kong Khoon as group president and CEO and Domenic Fuda from DBS Bank as head of its Malaysian bank business.
Hong Leong – which provides a range of financial services including insurance, stock broking and asset management – said both appointments became effective on February 5.
Tan was previously CEO of Hong Leong Bank in Malaysia and was credited with leading its transition to digital. He was promoted to group president and chief executive after Raymond Choong was reassigned to president and CEO of group company Guocoland in Singapore, which is a developer.
Subsequently Hong Leong hired Fuda as chief executive of its Malaysian bank. He was previously head of consumer banking and wealth management at DBS Bank and was a member of its management committee, with his responsibilities including digitisation of its business across six regional markets. Prior to that Fuda spent 16 years at Citigroup in various roles.
DBS announced in November that Pearlyn Phau would take over from Fuda as deputy group head of consumer banking group and wealth management, effective from January 1, 2016.
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Leong's companies provide a range of services across Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Other people news reported on AsianInvestor.net in the past week:
PGI hires former MAS director as SE Asia chief