Weekly roundup of people news, Feb 7
PRUDENTIAL REPLACES SINGAPORE CHIEF
Prudential Corporation Asia (PCA) has appointed banker Dennis Tan as Singapore chief executive to replace Wilfred Blackburn, who will move to Hong Kong as regional CEO for insurance growth markets, a role that's been created amid a shakeup at regional head office.
Tan started with the insurer on February 5 and reports to Asia CEO Nic Nicandrou. He was previously head of consumer financial services at Singapore’s OCBC Bank and before that worked for Citibank for 16 years.
Blackburn, who has been with PCA since 2012, will remain as Singapore CEO until Tan gets regulatory approval.
PCA embarked on a major reorganisation of its regional business on Wednesday (November 5) that is expected to involve a number of staff cuts and transfers.
MS AMLIN NAMES NEW ASIA CEO
MS Amlin, a UK-based insurer and reinsurer, has appointed Will Ho as its Asia-Pacific chief executive to succeed Simon Clarke, who is stepping down after 10 years with the firm.
Ho is currently the Singapore-based head of reinsurance for Asia. MS Amlin declined to comment on who would succeed him.
US fixed income-focused fund house Pimco will see Henry Chui, its head of North Asia private banking, leave in mid-March. Two other executives have also moved on in recent weeks: wealth management associate Carissa Lee and Chris Wong, a senior associate covering Asia institutions.
Lee joined JP Morgan Asset Management’s private bank sales team in Hong Kong this month as a client adviser to manage key private bank relationships, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor by email.
Chui and Wong are also understood to have new jobs lined up, but AsianInvestor could not ascertain where.
Chui had been with Pimco, focusing mainly on Hong Kong private bank coverage, since February 2012. He previously worked at Invesco and before that Schroders.
Lee had joined Pimco from DWS Investments in June 2017, while Wong started with Pimco in September 2016 and had previously worked at JP Morgan AM and UBS.
This story has been updated to show that Carissa Lee has joined JP Morgan AM.
PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL APPOINTS NEW DIVISION HEADS IN HK
US firm Principal Financial Group has named Dave Ashton as chief executive of Principal Trust Company in Hong Kong and Derek Ching as CEO of Principal Investment & Retirement Services, the group's sales, distribution and product development business.
The two men started their new roles on January 2, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor. Ashton and Ching assume responsibilities previously held by Doug Fick, Hong Kong head of Principal International, who recently finished his two-year assignment.
They will both be based in Hong Kong and report to Thomas Cheong, Asia president of Principal International, which provides retirement plans, life, disability insurance, mutual funds, annuities, banking and other financial products.
Principal did not reply to queries about why Fick's role had been split or why he was on a two-year assignment.
Ashton will lead Principal's Mandatory Provident Fund business in Hong Kong. He was previously chief information officer at Principal International in the US, a position Doug Fick in return has taken over, the spokeswoman said.
Ching was previously a managing director at Principal Asset Management Company (Asia), part of Principal International.
Chin will retain some of his former responsibilities on top of his new role, the spokeswoman said, but did not respond to questions on what these exact duties had entailed.
COLLIERS NAMES NEW ASIA-PACIFIC CEO
Canadian real estate services firm Colliers promoted John Kenny to Asia-Pacific chief executive on February 4. He reports to Jay Hennick, global chairman and CEO.
Kenny had headed the Australia and New Zealand business since 2006 and remains in Sydney for his new role, a spokesman said.
He succeeds David Hand, who has stepped away from the business to focus on his health and recovery following diagnosis of a medical condition, the spokesman said. Hand had joined Colliers in 2015.
GAM APPOINTS DISTRIBUTION MANAGER IN AUSTRALIA
Swiss fund house Gam Investments appointed Ryan Crewe as Sydney-based manager for key accounts on January 13.
He is responsible for developing Gam’s distribution efforts in Australia's wealth advisory market and reports to Alex Zaika, Sydney-based managing director for Australia.
Crewe's role is newly created to develop Gam's business in the wealth advisory market in Australia and his duties were previously looked after by other members in the team, a company spokeswoman said.
He joined Gam from Pengana Capital, where he was lead business development manager for New South Wales and New Zealand. Pengana declined to comment on his departure.
EAST VENTURES NAMES FORMER MINISTER AS ADVISER
Jakarta-based venture capital firm East Ventures has appointed Triawan Munaf, former Indonesian cabinet minister, as its venture adviser.
Munaf will advise startups on their regional business development. He was until October head of Bekraf, Indonesia's government agency for the creative economy.
Munaf is also president commissioner of airline Garuda Indonesia, and is honorary adviser to the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, also known as Baparekraf (formerly called Bekraf).
East Ventures' co-founder and managing partner Willson Cuaca said in a press release that Munaf's experience and ability in execution would help East Ventures in developing Indonesia's digital economy.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the past week:
Future Fund's CEO search could prompt asset reappraisal