Weekly roundup of people news, Jan 19
BLACKROCK ANNOUNCES APAC, CHINA LEADERSHIP CHANGES
BlackRock has appointed Susan Chan as head of Asia Pacific, and named Andrew Landman and Hiroyuki Shimizu as deputy heads of Asia Pacific, effective immediately.
Chan succeeds Rachel Lord, who relocates to London and takes on the role of BlackRock’s head of international.
Based in Hong Kong, Chan will be responsible for leading the Asia-Pacific region and overseeing the full range of BlackRock's business.
Chan previously served BlackRock as deputy head of Asia Pacific, head of Greater China, and head of trading, liquidity and lending for Asia Pacific.
Before Landman and Shimizu were named deputy heads of Asia Pacific, Landman was head of Australasia, while Shimizu was head of Asia Pacific institutional and head of North Asia (Japan and South Korea).
In addition to leading teams in Australia and New Zealand markets, Landman will expand his role to oversee Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific wealth business.
Shimizu will continue to lead BlackRock’s Asia Pacific Institutional business, while expanding his remit to cover Taiwan, in addition to Japan and South Korea.
Shimizu is based in Hong Kong, while Landman relocated to Australia from Hong Kong.
Landman joined BlackRock in 2012, while Shimizu joined BlackRock in 2022.
In addition, Asia Pacific head of wealth James Raby will take on the role of chief operating officer for Asia Pacific. BlackRock didn’t provide more details of the appointment.
Raby joined BlackRock in 2008 and was appointed as Asia Pacific head of wealth in January 2023.
BlackRock also announced on January 15 the appointments of Fan Hua as head of China, and Jim Zhang as general manager of BlackRock CCB Wealth Management (BlackRock CCB Wealth), subject to regulatory approval.
AsianInvestor reported Fan’s appointment on January 12.
Zhang was most recently leading the management operation supporting the BlackRock’s onshore businesses and as the chief liaison to China Construction Bank.
Prior to this, Zhang was deputy general manager, chief technology officer, and chief operating officer of BlackRock Fund Management Company, the firm’s mutual fund business.
Both Fan and Zhang are based in Shanghai.
LEGALSUPER INVESTMENT HEAD DEPARTS
Linda Trusler has left her role as head of investment strategy at Legal Super to become the chief investment officer at Rajomon Asset Management. She continues to be based in Melbourne.
Trusler left Legal Super in December 2023, where she also started at Rajomon, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Her move follows the departure of Legal Super's former chief investment officer, Norman Zhang, who left for Koda Capital.
She has also been actively involved with the CFA Society of Melbourne and Women in Super.
Legal Super is currently seeking a replacement for the chief investment officer role.
BLACKSTONE MD RELOCATES TO HEAD SINGAPORE PRIVATE EQUITY
Blackstone private equity Managing Director Aravind Krishnan will relocate from Mumbai to Singapore to lead the firm’s private equity business as the alternative asset manager looks to expand the business in Southeast Asia.
Krishnan has transitioned into the newly created role, and will continue reporting to Amit Dixit, head of Asia for Blackstone Private Equity, the firm told AsianInvestor.
Krishnan joined Blackstone in 2013 as a private equity analyst.
The firm plans to double the headcount of the Singapore private equity team to about six to seven professionals in the next two years as part of its expansion in the city-state, a spokesperson confirmed with AsianInvestor.
Blackstone's Singapore office
HARVEST GLOBAL INVESTMENTS CEO STEPS DOWN
Thomas Kwan, chief executive officer of Harvest Global Investments, the Hong Kong unit of China’s major asset manager Harvest Fund Management, stepped down from the role in January after 12 years with the firm, his LinkedIn showed.
He becomes a senior advisor to Harvest Fund Management.
Han Tongli, a portfolio manager at Harvest Global, will take over the CEO role, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Kwan joined Harvest Global in Hong Kong in 2012 as head of fixed income and was promoted to chief investment officer in 2015. He became CEO in 2021.
Neither Harvest Global nor Kwan responded to enquiries for more details.
M&G REAL ESTATE NAMES KOREA HEAD
M&G Real Estate promoted Daniel Cho as head of Korea, effective January 1.
Based in Seoul, Cho will report to Jing Dong (JD) Lai, CEO and CIO, M&G Real Estate Asia. He will also be working closely with Peter Kim, head of the M&G Investments Korea branch office.
Cho succeeds Ryu Hyesik, who is leaving to pursue personal projects. Ryu will leave by the end of March, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Cho previously served as director of acquisitions for M&G Real Estate in Korea. He previously worked at asset managers KKR, Mapletree and Ascendas.
MBK PARTNERS ANNOUNCES VICE CHAIRMAN, VICE PRESIDENT
North Asia private equity firm MBK Partners appointed Moon Joo Ho, partner and head of South Korea for special situations, as vice president, and promoted Kim Kwang Il, a partner and lawyer, to vice chairman.
MBK didn’t respond to AsianInvestor’s enquiries regarding whether the two roles were newly created.
Moon joined the special situations unit of MBK in 2018.
Before joining, he held roles at private equity fund manager H&Q Korea, JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs.
As a lawyer specialising in mergers and acquisitions, Kim has been with MBK since 2005.
He previously focused on M&As at law firm Kim & Chang and was a certified public accountant at Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers in Seoul.
HINES CIO NAMED AS ANREV CHAIR
Chiang Ling Ng, the chief investment officer for Asia at Hines, has been appointed as the chairperson of the Asian Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles (ANREV).
Ng has been with Hines since 2021 and is based in Singapore.
Her previous roles include leadership positions at M&G Real Estate Asia and Goldman Sachs' private equity arm.