Weekly roundup of people news, Mar 15
CDPQ ANNOUNCES COUNTRY CHAIR FOR INDIA
Canadian pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) appointed N. Venkatram as its new country chair for CDPQ India, effective April 1.
Based in India, Venkatram has over 40 years of industry experience, most recently at Deloitte, where he led the audit and assurance practice in India and was the CEO & managing partner of Deloitte South Asia.
As a member of Confederation of Indian Industry’s National Council, he currently serves as the chair of the committee on financial reporting.
KHAZANAH RECRUITS CIO INTERNALLY
Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) appointed Hisham Hamdan as chief investment officer (CIO), effective March 6.
Hisham has held various senior positions at Khazanah, most recently executive director of public markets.
Other roles have focused on strategy and business development, healthcare, energy and utilities, and China.
Hisham joined Khazanah in April 2011 from Malaysian trading conglomerate Sime Darby.
The CIO role at Khazanah has been vacant since the departure of Azmil Zahruddin Abdul Aziz in December 2022.
Khazanah did not respond to AsianInvestor’s enquiries about who has been overseeing the CIO role’s responsibilities between Azmil’s departure and Hisham’s appointment.
NEW SARAWAK SWF NAMES CEO
Rahmat Yusuf was appointed chief executive officer of the Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Future Fund (SSWFF), effective January 29.
The Board of Guardians of SSWFF made the announcement in a statement.
He was formerly head of investment banking (Malaysia) at CLSA Securities since 2019, where he led fundraising activities including initial public offerings and placements for institutional and corporate clients.
Rahmat was previously director of investments at sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional between 2004 and 2019.
He established and headed Khazanah’s regional office in Turkey in Istanbul covering Turkey, MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and sub-Saharan Africa.
HQ CAPITAL OPENS NEW SINGAPORE OFFICE, NAMES ASIA HEAD
US private equity firm HQ Capital opened a new office in Singapore and appointed Michael Hu as managing director and head of Asia.
Hu will also join HQ Capital’s global executive committee.
In the new role, he will report to Marc Brugger, chief executive officer and chief financial officer.
HQ Capital has been investing in Asia since 1997. It opened an office in Hong Kong in 2007.
Prior to joining HQ Capital, Hu was a managing director at Ardian, based in Singapore, where he was a senior member of the secondaries and primaries investment team and led Investor relations and private wealth solutions.
Before joining Ardian, Hu worked at Greenhill & Co. in Singapore and Hong Kong.
HQ Capital has submitted its application for a capital markets services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which is currently pending approval.
ALLIANZ GI GETS NEW JAPAN HEAD
Allianz Global Investors (Allianz GI) appointed Taro Shiroyama head of Japan, effective April 1.
He will be based in Tokyo and report to Desmond Ng, head of Asia Pacific.
Shiroyama will succeed Yoshikazu Kobashi, who will retire on April 1. Kobashi will continue to serve as a non-executive chairman for the Japan office during a transition period until the end of September this year.
Shiroyama previously served as head of institutional business development Japan for M&G Investments, from 2016 until mid-June 2023, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Manabu Fujita was appointed head of M&G Investments Japan in June 2023.
Shiroyama has also previously worked at PIMCO and Goldman Sachs Asset Management in Japan.
NEW FORESTS ANNOUNCES TWO SENIOR HIRES
New Forests, an investment manager specialising in nature-based real assets, appointed Michelle Elliot as the global head of funds and Sanjiv Louis as director of investments Asiam.
Elliot, based in Sydney, will oversee the global funds management platform, focusing on growth and operational efficiencies.
With 17 years at Macquarie Asset Management where she most recently served as chief operating officer for Asia Pacific, Elliot joins the executive leadership team and reports to CEO Mark Rogers.
Her role commences immediately.
Louis, based in Singapore, will lead the Asian investments team, targeting acquisitions in nature-based solutions and natural capital in Southeast Asia.
Louis' 23 years of experience span senior positions at Sail Ventures, Credit Suisse, and UBS.
He will report to David Shelton, global head of investments.
GSAM NAMES KOREA INSTITUTIONAL CLIENTS HEAD
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has appointed Scott Lim as head of institutional coverage in Korea in its clients solutions group.
Lim was previously responsible for the distribution of Goldman Sachs AM’s alternative fundraising and private market product syndication to Korean investors.
Based in Seoul Lim will now manage and build out a team to also offer onshore access to investment solutions across public markets funds. The distribution of public market offerings to Korean investors was previously done from offshore, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Lim joined Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong in 2007.
CLIMATE FINANCE ASIA APPOINTS CEO
Climate Finance Asia, a sustainable finance consultancy, appointed Alan To as chief executive officer.
Based in Hong Kong, will lead the consultancy’s efforts to promote sustainability practices and raising climate competence in business, government and community organisations.
He was previously regional ESG director for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa at S&P Global.
He has led sustainability efforts for about two decades and has previously worked for ERM and Lloyd's Register & Bayer.
The CEO role is newly created after the company was rebranded, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Climate Finance Asia, previously Carbon Care Asia, was established in 2008 and had a former CEO, who left the firm in 2020 to join Deloitte after some parts of the business were acquired by Deloitte, the spokesperson added.
Climate Finance Asia, headquartered in Hong Kong, has offices in Singapore and Japan.