Weekly roundup of people news, Jan 12
HSBC ASSET MANAGEMENT APPOINTS ASIA CIO
HSBC Asset Management appointed Michael Cross as chief investment officer, Asia.
He will continue in his role as global CIO of fixed income while taking on the new responsibilities.
Based in Hong Kong, Cross will report locally to Daisy Ho, chief executive officer, Asia Pacific and Hong Kong, whilst maintaining a functional reporting line to Xavier Baraton, global CIO.
Cross will supervise a team of over 180 professionals and stewarding assets over $200 billion. He succeeds Cecilia Chan, who has retired after 30 years of career in the investment management industry.
He joined HSBC Asset Management in 2015 as global head of official sector institutions.
Prior to his tenure with HSBC, Cross has worked with the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund.
BLACKROCK PROMOTES FAN HUA TO HEAD OF CHINA
BlackRock promoted Fan Hua, general manager of its China joint venture, to head of China, overseeing the asset manager’s entire China onshore business, Reuters reported this week, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
She replaces Tony Tang, who left the firm in 2023 and joined Citadel Securities as head of China in August.
Fan joined BlackRock in 2022 as managing director and general manager of BlackRock CCB Wealth Management.
Fan has previously worked with Goldman Sachs and China Investment Corporation,
She joined China Merchants Bank’s wealth management subsidiary in 2019.
BlackRock didn’t respond to a request for comment.
HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY APPOINTS TREASURER
Hong Kong-based multifamily office Masan Capital’s managing director Kevin Liem took on the role of treasurer of the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), a major public university in the city.
Liem made the announcement on LinkedIn this week.
He has been a member of the investment committee of the university’s endowment fund since 2014.
As treasurer, he also becomes chairman of the university’s finance committee, the endowment fund investment committee, and treasurer of the board of governors of the HKBU Foundation.
The former treasurer was Rosanna Choi Yi-tak, who is co-founding partner of CW CPA, a professional advisory firm.
HKBU didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Liem has been managing director of Masan Capital since 2019. He was previously Asia chief investment officer at wealth management firm CBH Asia for 10 years.
INDIA’S NIIF APPOINTS NEW CEO
India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a sovereign-linked alternative asset manager with approximately $5 billion in assets under management, named Sanjiv Aggarwal as CEO and managing director, effective February.
Aggarwal succeeds Rajiv Dhar, who was the fund’s interim CEO and managing director since May 2023.
Former CEO Sujoy Bose stepped down in May after being at the helm since 2016.
Aggarwal will join the NIIF from investment firm Actis, where he has worked since 2008 and until recently led the company’s energy investments in Asia.
Aggarwal has previously worked with Citigroup and ANZ Investment Bank.
KIC RESHUFFLES DEPARTMENT HEADS
Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has reshuffled some department and group heads, effective January 2024.
Lee Seungkul was named head of the alternative investment division.
He was previously head of the investment strategy and innovation division as well as the investment strategy and innovation group.
Lee Seungkul's previous role will be handled by two individuals: Kim Jongho becomes head of the investment strategy and innovation division, and Lee Gunung will head the investment strategy and innovation group.
Kim was previously the head of the alternative investment division and private equity group, while Lee Gunung previously held a role within the asset allocation group.
Among group heads, Huh Yoonhyuck was named head of the private equity group. He was previously head of the absolute returns group.
The absolute returns group is now headed by Yoon Donghwan, who was previously head of the CEO office.
KWAP APPOINTS CHIEF RETIREMENT SERVICES OFFICER
Malaysia's Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan), also known as KWAP, appointed Zarina Halim as chief retirement services officer, effective January 2, 2024.
Halim is tasked with strengthening KWAP’s sustainable retirement strategies.
The role is newly created and Halim will report to CEO Nik Amlizan Mohamed, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Halim was previously chief corporate officer at Hektar Asset Management, the management company for Hektar REIT. She has also worked with UEM Group.
UNISUPER FIXED INTEREST HEAD TO DEPART
UniSuper’s head of fixed interest and macro research, Robert Hogg, is leaving the super fund to take up the role of chief investment officer and head of individual portfolios at SG Hiscock, effective February 28.
Hogg has been at UniSuper since 2015 with extensive experience across economics, equities, fixed interest and asset allocation.
He previously held roles at Frontier Advisors, Commonwealth Investment Management and Colonial First State Asset Management.
UniSuper has appointed David Colosimo as acting head of fixed interest and macro research while the fund searches for Hogg's replacement.
Colosimo has managed UniSuper's fixed income and cash portfolios since 2013.
At SG Hiscock, Hogg succeeds Stephen Hiscock as CIO, allowing Hiscock to focus on his executive chair position.
NPS NAMES RE PLATFORM INVESTMENT HEAD
Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) has promoted David JS Kim to head of real estate platform investment, effective January 2024.
Based in London, Kim was previously senior portfolio manager of private and listed real estate investments. Before joining NPS in 2015, he was a portfolio manager at Kyobo Life Insurance in Seoul.
PINEBRIDGE APPOINTS DISTRIBUTION HEAD FOR APAC AND EMEA
PineBridge Investments appointed Nicolas Kopitsis as its new head of intermediary distribution for APAC and EMEA, effective January 1st.
Based in Singapore, Kopitsis will oversee the asset manager's APAC and EMEA intermediary business strategy for investment products to private banks, family offices, and other intermediaries, with a focus on the UK, Switzerland, and Asia.
In this newly created role, Kopitsis will report to Sergio Ramirez, PineBridge's chief revenue officer.
Kopitsis has over 20 years of experience in intermediary roles in Europe and Asia, including previously serving as PineBridge's head of wealth management for Asia since joining the firm in 2021.
Prior to PineBridge, Kopitsis was head of intermediary distribution for Asia ex-Japan at BNY Mellon in Singapore.
NIKKO AM ADDS SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT CAPABILITIES
Nikko Asset Management (Nikko AM) has hired Sheela Veerappan as global ESG integration lead and Bhaveer Shah as global environmental lead, effective December 4.
In these newly created roles, they will both be based at Nikko AM’s global sustainable investment hub in Singapore and report to Natalia Rajewska, global head of sustainable investment.
Veerappan joined Nikko AM from abrdn where her latest role was senior sustainable investment specialist based in Singapore.
She left abrdn in November 2023, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Veerappan was previously Australia and New Zealand head at United Nations’ Principle for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) in Sydney.
She has also held roles at superannuation Rest Super and Willis Towers Watson (WTW).
Shah joined Nikko AM from MSCI where he served as vice president for applied climate and ESG investment research across asset classes out of Singapore. He has previously worked at Credit Suisse in London.
PGIM ADDS TO JAPAN PORTFOLIO ADVISORY BUSINESS
PGIM, the investment management business of Prudential Financial, appointed Hirotaka Kato as head of portfolio solutions for Japan, effective late November 2023.
In the newly created role based in Tokyo, Kato will be responsible for developing relationships with Japanese insurance companies and institutional clients focusing on multi-asset investment solutions.
Kato reports to Taisaku Kunisawa, president and CEO of PGIM Japan, with a dotted line to Phil Waldeck, CEO of PGIM Portfolio Advisory, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Before operating as a consultant for most of 2023, Kato was co-head of investment banking and a senior executive officer at Citi Japan until January 2023. He has previously held roles at HSBC and KPMG.
AMICORP ADDS TWO TO HONG KONG TEAM
Amicorp Fund Services Asia added two senior appointments to its team in Hong Kong.
Eric Chow and Joost Lobler joined Amicorp as sales directors to grow the business across the Asia-Pacific region.
Chow joins Amicorp from Ogier, a legal and professional service firm, where he was head of business of development for Greater China.
He previously worked at KPMG, State Street’s Alternative Investment Services, BNY Mellon and HSBC.
Lobler joins from Waystone Governance, where has most recently managing director for business development.
He has held senior positions with major financial institutions in the Netherlands, the UK and the Caribbean.
Chow reports to Michael Choi, director funds at Amicorp Funds Services, and Lobler reports to CEO Kin Lai.
Amicorp Fund Services Asia is part of Amicorp FS (UK) Plc, a specialist fund services group listed on the London Stock Exchange.
(This news brief has been updated with new details on reporting lines)