Weekly roundup of people news, June 9
SCHRODERS HIRES NORTH ASIA MULTI-ASSET HEAD
Schroder Investment Management has lured Jason Yu from rival UK firm Standard Life Investments (SLI) as head of multi-asset product for North Asia.
Schroders will also be hiring a head of multi-asset for South Asia in Singapore, said a spokesman.
Yu’s appointment follows the departure this month of Vincent Chan, formerly Singapore-based head of multi-asset product strategy for Asia.
These moves are yet more examples of the fierce demand for multi-asset specialists bringing numerous appointments and driving up pay in this sector in Asia this year.
Based in Hong Kong, Yu started his new role on June 6, reporting to Garth Taljard, London-based head of multi-asset management.
Yu covers the Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan markets, working with both institutional and intermediary clients.
At SLI, he had been investment director for multi-asset for Asia Pacific. And has also worked for Wellington Management, Wells Fargo and Barclays Capital across Asia and the US.
Schroders’ multi-asset business has around $82 billion of assets under management and employs 85 professionals globally.
NNIP HIRES PB SALESWOMAN FROM INVESTEC
NN Investment Partners has hired Tan Mei-Lin as vice president of private bank sales to replace Alice Lo, who left the firm in October to join US rival Pimco, AsianInvestor can reveal.
Tan joined NNIP on April 10 from Investec Asset Management and reports to Eric Chiang, Asia ex-Japan head of wholesale business development.
An Investec spokeswoman said Tan had been a sales director and left in April, but declined to confirm whether she had been or would be replaced.
JP MORGAN PB'S ASIA EQUITY HEAD EXITS
Lemuel Lee, Asia head of equities at JP Morgan Private Bank, is to leave the firm, a spokeswoman confirmed, but could not say when his last day would be. Hong Kong-based Lee has been in the role for about a year, having taken it up last July.
He was previously Asia Pacific head of third-party distribution for equity derivatives at JP Morgan’s corporate and investment bank from August 2014. He has also held various marketing head roles on the equity derivatives team.
Lee has also worked for Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch.
SEQUOIA ADDS ASIA STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT HEAD
US venture capital firm Sequoia Capital has hired Piyush Gupta in Singapore to the newly created role of head of strategic development for Asia.
He was previously Deutsche Bank’s head of telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) for Southeast Asia and India, and had spent some 12 years at the bank.
Gupta, who will oversee Sequoia’s business throughout Asia, excluding China, turned down a promotion to Deutsche Bank’s head of TMT in Asia Pacific in order to join Sequoia, said a person familiar with the matter. He has not been directly replaced by the German bank.
A Deutsche spokesperson declined to comment.
NEUBERGER BERMAN REPLACES CHESTNUT LUK
Allen Chiu joined US fund house Neuberger Berman from Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) at the end of May as vice president of business development for financial institutions.
Based in Hong Kong, Chiu will largely cover private bank relationships and reports to Pauline Cheng, director of retail business for Hong Kong. Chiu was previously a senior sales manager at OMGI, which declined to comment.
He replaces Chestnut Luk, whose last day at Neuberger Berman is today (June 9), said a spokeswoman. Luk had been with the firm since August 2013, according to her LinkedIn page.
BMO GLOBAL AM SEES SENIOR SALESWOMAN EXIT
A senior Hong Kong-based sales executive, Xie Yi, is leaving Canada's BMO Global Asset Management. Her last day in the office is today (June 9), but her employment at the firm will officially end on June 30, said a spokeswoman.
BMO Global declined to comment further on her departure.
Xie had joined the firm in March 2010. Her role at BMO evolved from building the infrastructure of wealth management platform to supporting investment product development and expanding distribution capabilities, according to her biography.
Before joining BMO, Xie was associate director of investment management at HSBC Private Bank.
NORTHERN TRUST APPOINTS SYDNEY OFFICE HEAD
Northern Trust has appointed Sally Surgeon as head of its Sydney office, effective June 1. She was previously based in the Melbourne office, and will retain her responsibilities as head of client services for Australasia.
The Sydney branch had previously been managed by Madeleine Senior, head of Australasia, from the Northern Trust's office in Melbourne. Surgeon continues to report to Senior.
The Sydney office was set up last year after Northern Trust acquired Aviate Global, a London-based institutional equity brokerage with a Sydney presence, in May 2016.
Surgeon joined Northern Trust in 2005 in London, before moving to the Melbourne office in 2007. She has also worked at State Street, another asset management and servicing group .
PINEBRIDGE ADDS MULTI-ASSET ANALYST
Benjamin Tsui joined PineBridge Investments this month in Hong Kong as multi-asset analyst, reporting to Sunny Ng, multi-asset portfolio manager. This is a newly created role, said a spokeswoman.
Tsui was previously a trainee on the institutional sales team at French fund house Amundi, before leaving the firm on May 26, and he has been replaced by another trainee, said a spokeswoman.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the past week:
Zexi ban "just the start" of new China funds crackdown
Capital Group hires Asia institutional head
WTW rings changes as Naomi Denning exits
MetLife IM seeks HK licence, eyes Asia buildout
Amundi’s Asia CIO exits after EM team restructure
* This story has been updated to reflect the fact Lemuel Lee has not yet left JP Morgan Private Bank, but has submitted his resignation.