Weekly roundup of people news, July 2
HESTA HIRES RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT GM FROM HOSTPLUS
Kim Farrant has joined Hesta super fund as general manager of responsible investment from Hostplus, where she was head of ESG (environmental, society and governance).
She will report to Hesta’a head of impact, Mary Delahunty, and will work within the investment management team to lead the fund’s responsible investment strategy and other impact ambitions, Hesta said in a statement. She commences her role July 12 and will continue to be based in Melbourne.
Farrant was employed at Hostplus for a year and a half, before which she worked at VicSuper as portfolio manager for responsible investments and director for climate and sustainability at Ernst & Young.
Hostplus did not respond to requests for comment.
QIC CHIEF EXECUTIVE TO RETIRE
Damien Frawley, chief executive at Queensland Government-owned investment corporation, QIC, announced his intention to retire in 2022.
Frawley has been in the position for nine years, leading the investment management corporation’s A$88.8 billion ($66.2 billion) assets under management. He was previously chief executive of BlackRock, where he worked for seven years. He also held senior positions at Merrill Lynch Investment Management.
An executive search is underway for his replacement, QIC said in a statement. Frawley will continue to lead the firm until a successor is found.
QIC has delivered strong risk-adjusted returns under his leadership, the statement wrote. The firm’s investment capabilities today include infrastructure, real estate, private equity, fixed interest, overlay solutions, whole-of-fund government strategies and private debt capability.
CHUBB APPOINTS PHILIPPINES COUNTRY PRESIDENT
Canta has been with Chubb since 2017 as chief financial officer (CFO) for the Philippines. Prior to joining Chubb, she worked for a decade with consultant Aon in the Philippines and Singapore, where she most recently held the position of CFO. She began her career as a senior tax advisor at EY.
AMUNDI ADDS NEW ESG SPECIALIST
Amundi has appointed Kristy Wong as associate director, ESG investment specialist based in Hong Kong, effective June 21.
Wong has 12 years of experience in ESG advisory across the public and financial sectors in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Amundi, she was vice president, ESG at Bank of America in Hong Kong from 2018 where she was the Asia Pacific environment lead.
Under this newly created role, Wong reports to Xiaofeng Zhong, chairman of Amundi Greater China who is based in Hong Kong, and Timothée Jaulin, head of ESG development based in Paris and Elodie Laugel, chief responsible investment officer, also based in Paris, according to a spokeswoman.
Bank of America did not reply to emailed questions on Wong’s departure and replacement.
AVIVA EXPANDS EM DEBT TEAM
Aviva Investors announced the expansion of its emerging market debt (EMD) team with three new hires.
Amy Kam has been appointed as senior portfolio manager, responsible for co-managing Aviva Investors emerging market corporate bond strategy, alongside Aaron Grehan, currently head of hard currency EMD team.
Kam has over a decade of experience investing in emerging market corporate debt and previously worked at GAM Investments as an investment manager.
A spokeswoman from GAM told AsianInvestor that it had appointed Walid Bellaha as Kam’s replacement, who will be based in Zurich and started in the role on July 1.
Other recent hires in the EMD team include Nafez Zouk who joined as an emerging market sovereign analyst. Nafez has over 10 years of experience and will largely focus on sovereign issuers that are active in both local and hard currency markets. Aleksej Gren has also been appointed as an emerging market corporate analyst. Gren joined Aviva Investors in September 2020, having worked as a credit analyst for over eight years on both the buy and sell sides. Both roles are newly created.
Aviva Investors did not reply to emailed questions on new hires' reporting line and other details.
HSBC PRIVATE BANKING HEAD VIRGINIA WONG RETIRES
Virginia Devereux Wong, HSBC Private Banking’s regional head of funds and ETFs will retire in June, the firm confirmed.
Her responsibilities will be absorbed by Lina Lim, who has been given an expanded role of regional head of discretionary and funds in Asia Pacific, effective from June 28. The newly created role includes Wong’s responsibilities also Lim’s current role as regional head of discretionary for Asia Pacific.
Lim will now oversee discretionary, funds and ETFs in Asia, and reports to Ivan Wong, interim regional head of investments & products group, Asia Pacific, HSBC Private Banking. Both are based in Hong Kong.
Lim has over 23 years of industry experience primarily in asset and wealth management. She is an experienced funds selector and annuity business head, having led the managed solutions at JP Morgan Wealth Management in Asia prior to joining HSBC Private Banking in August 2019 as the regional head of discretionary business.
PRUDENTIAL HEAD OF HNW SOLUTIONS LEAVES FOR TLB
Transamerica Life Bermuda (TLB) has appointed Lim Ji Hsien as head of sales and distribution in Singapore from Prudential where he was head of high-net-worth solutions (HNW).
Lim will be responsible for leading the insurer’s distribution strategy in Singapore and building relationships with brokers, private banks and other financial firms. He will report to TLB’s global head of sales and distribution Jeremy Young and TLB’s Singapore chief executive Benjamin Chua.
He was with Prudential for a year, and was previously head of brokerage at AIA Singapore, a role he held for nine years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Prudential Singapore confirmed to AsianInvestor that Lim was with the firm until June 30 and that it is currently looking for his replacement.
BANK OF SINGAPORE LOSES GREATER CHINA MARKET HEAD
Greater China market head Richard Hu has left Bank of Singapore, after taking up the position two years ago, a spokesperson for the bank confirmed his departure, according to finews.asia.
Hu previously held multiple senior roles covering Greater China markets with Julius Baer, HSBC Private Bank, Credit Suisse, UBS and Citi Private Bank. The bank has recently welcomed ex-UBS Paul Chua as its global head of wealth planning based in Singapore.
Earlier this month, the bank also lost its head of Russia and Eastern Europe Vadim Bondarev.
Bank of Singapore did not reply to emailed questions on Hu's replacement.
Other moves this week covered by AsianInvestor:
Malaysia’s Khazanah hires new chief from Maybank
This article has been updated with Kristy Wong's start date and a comment from Prudential Singapore.