Weekly roundup of people news, July 30
Rothschild hires HK chief
Private bank and asset manager Edmond de Rothschild has hired Jing Zhang Brogle as its new Hong Kong CEO. Zhang Brogle will join Rothschild on August 1 and will report to Emmanuel Fievet, the firm’s head of international private banking.
Zhang Brogle replaces Monique Chan, former Hong Kong CEO and Asia head, who left Rothschild in May.
Zhang Brogle joins from Hong Kong-based La Vintoll Capital Management, where she has been CEO and managing partner since January this year, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Prior to that she worked at Bank Vontobel in Hong Kong as head of Greater China between June 2009 and December 2012, where she set up the group’s Asian private banking platform. Between December 2012 and December 2014 she was CEO and managing director of Vontobel Wealth Management Hong Kong.
Between September 2005-May 2009, Zhang Brogle worked at UBS Wealth Management in Zurich as a senior client adviser. Zhang Brogle held various positions at Vontobel Asset Management in Zurich as investment strategist, fund analyst and portfolio manager between 2001 and 2006.
HSBC GAM names sales, distribution heads
HSBC Global Asset Management has appointed new heads of sales and distribution in Asia. Alison Brown joined HSBC GAM yesterday (July 29) as wholesale head of sales for Hong Kong and China. Soren Beck-Petersen has been appointed as Asia-Pacific head of distribution for private banks, and assumed his new position on the same day. Brown will be based in Hong Kong and reports to Pedro Bastos, Hong Kong CEO and Asia-Pacific regional head. Beck-Petersen will be Singapore-based and reports functionally to Bastos and locally to Kalen Lim, Singapore CEO.
HSBC GAM said that Brown’s position had been expanded to cover fund distribution in China, while Soren's was newly-created.
Brown’s remit will be to drive HSBC’s fund distribution in Hong Kong and China, including the firm’s participation in the mutual recognition of funds (MRF) scheme. She will be covering fund selection and distribution of HSBC funds in Hong Kong and China under MRF.
Soren will be responsible for client relationships in the Asia private banking sector.
Brown comes from Manulife, which she joined in January 2012 and was most recently head of wealth management for Singapore, having also served as regional head of business development for wealth. Asked whether a replacement had been found for Brown or if there was a hiring process in place, a Manulife spokesperson merely said that “a further announcement will be made in due course”.
Prior to joining Manulife, Brown worked at banking group ANZ as a senior director for Asia-Pacific insurance between November 2009-February 2012. She was head of retail insurance distribution at Deutsche Asset Management (Asia) between June 2007-April 2009 and head of Southeast Asia regional business development for Axa Life between June 2005 – June 2007.
Beck-Petersen joined HSBC GAM in October 2004 and was previously a senior product specialist at HSBC in London, covering a range of local investment capabilities.
TPG recruits Mumbai MD
Private equity firm TPG Growth has hired Anjali Bansal as Mumbai-based managing director.
A spokesman for the firm said that the role was newly created. The hire was announced on July 29.
Bansal was India MD for executive search firm/headhunter Spencer Stuart and had worked there since 2005, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to that she worked for consulting firms Egon Zehnder (2004-05) and McKinsey & Co (1997-2003). She is a board member of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals India, Bata India, and Tata’s Voltas.
TPG Growth’s managing partner Bill McGlashan said Bansal’s “strong institutional network will help enhance our market presence across Asia and Africa”. Bansal’s role is focused on human resources at the PE firm’s Asia and Africa portfolio companies.
The spokesman could not confirm whether TPG Growth would be replacing David Gowdey, who is joining Singapore-based Jungle Ventures, according to a July 23 announcement from the early-stage venture capital firm.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Gowdey had worked for TPG Growth in Singapore since January 2012. Prior to that he launched a VC fund – Xplorer Capital – in March 2011, following twelve years as online giant Yahoo’s head of international M&A between November 1999-December 2011.
Gowdey becomes Jungle Ventures’ fourth managing partner, alongside Jayesh Parekh and co-founders Anurag Srivastava and Amit Anand. He will focus on early stage (series A and B) funding for high-growth consumer Internet start-ups. Jungle Ventures is raising its second South Asia-focused fund, which is targeted to be much larger than the $10 million first fund the firm raised in 2012. The new appointment comes after Jungle Ventures announced on July 2 that Ratan Tata would be joining the firm as a special adviser.
Standard Life hires investment directors
Global asset manager Standard Life Investments has hired Jason Yu and Dongyue Zhang as multi-asset investment directors. Yu and Zhang have joined the firm’s Hong Kong-based global investment specialist team and report to Jonathan Price, global head of investment specialists. Yu joined in April while Zhang started at the firm on July 2 in the newly-created roles.
Yu joins from Wellington Management Company in Hong Kong, where he was an investment director specialising in fixed income and absolute return products from March 2008 – March 2015. Prior to that he was an associate at Wells Fargo Securities in New York from 2007-2008. He also worked at Barclays Capital in New York between 2006-2007.
Zhang joins from Goldman Sachs Asset Management in New York, where he was a vice-president and a portfolio manager in the global portfolio solutions group from 2010. Prior to that he was an associate actuary at consultancy Towers Watson from 2007 to 2010.
Capital Group elects new chairman
The board of Capital Group Companies has elected Tim Armour as its new chairman, following the death earlier this month of James Rothenberg. The $1.4 trillion Los Angeles-based asset manager made the announcement on July 28.
Rothenberg died on July 21 of a heart attack. He served as CIO and manager of the Growth Fund of America, the largest single actively managed equity fund in the world
Armour is currently chairman of Capital Group's management committee and Capital Research and Management Company.
The firm said the move reflected a leadership succession plan which had been in motion for several years and was formalised after the death of Rothenberg.
Armour said: "All of us here at Capital deeply mourn the loss of our friend and colleague, Jim. He was a purposeful leader, who possessed a talent for taking decisive action in the best long-term interests of our clients, investors and associates."
Armour joined Capital 32 years ago, and early on was an equity investment analyst, covering global telecommunications and US service companies.
In Asia, Capital manages approximately $16 billion for clients and investors. It has offices in Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai and Beijing.
BNP names Vietnam head
French bank BNP Paribas has named Aymar de Liedekerke Beaufort as head of country for Vietnam and CEO of its Ho Chi Minh City branch, with effect from July 28.
He succeeds Luc Cardyn, who in June became the bank’s Indonesia country head. Cardyn had been head of Vietnam since March 2008.
De Liedekerke Beaufort reports to Pierre Veyres, regional head for Southeast Asia and CEO of BNP Paribas Singapore.
De Liedekerke Beaufort joined BNP Paribas in May 1991 and has held a variety of roles at the bank across Europe. Prior to this new appointment, de Liedekerke Beaufort had been head of corporate coverage for Germany, based in Frankfurt, since 2012. His positions over the decades have included head of country for Czech Republic and Slovakia, head of country for Hungary and southeastern Europe, and deputy head of corporate and transaction banking for Europe.
Northern Trust appoints Asia risk chief
Northern Trust has appointed Simon Willcox as head of investment risk and analytical services (IRAS) for the Asia-Pacific region.
Based in Singapore, Willcox will lead the delivery of technology, reporting and consulting services for institutional investors and asset managers in the region. He reports functionally to Fiona Horsewill, Northern Trust’s global head of product and IRAS and regionally to William Mak, head of Asia Pacific for Northern Trust. Willcox starts in his new position on August 3.
Willcox joined Northern Trust in 2003, according to his LinkedIn profile, and was most recently London-based global head of performance product.
He was previously head of performance measurement for Lombard Odier in London between 2000-2003 and a performance consultant at KPMG between 1999-2000. Between 1994-1999 Willcox was a vice-president and head of performance measurement at JP Morgan Asset Management in London.
Moody’s names new stress-testing MD
Credit ratings agency Moody’s has named David Hamilton as its new Asia-Pacific managing director for stress testing and credit risk analytics.
Based in Singapore, Hamilton will be responsible for Moody’s Analytics' business development across the region and will address practical challenges of credit risk measurement and management, with particular regard to stress testing.
Hamilton has been at Moody’s for 18 years and has held various senior positions at both Moody’s Investors Service and Moody’s Analytics.
Prior to his new role, Hamilton worked as managing director for Moody’s Analytics’ Capital Markets Research Group in New York. While at Moody’s Investors Service, he worked on corporate, sovereign, and municipal credit risk, as well as structured finance. Before joining Moody’s in 1997, Hamilton worked in the regional economics group at the US Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
HKEx chief gets three more years
Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, has signed up for a new three-year term. HKEx said in an announcement on July 28 that Li’s contract as head of the Hong Kong bourse would be extended from October 16, 2015, to October 15, 2018. Local regulator the Securities and Futures Commission has approved the move.
Li joined HKEx in October 2009 and became CEO on January 16, 2010. Prior to joining HKEx, Li worked in investment banking for a number of firms, including JP Morgan China, where he was chairman between 2003-2009, and Merrill Lynch China, where he worked from 1994-2003 and served as president in his final four years.