Weekly roundup of people news, Mar 29
SUN LIFE HIRES HK DIRECTOR OF PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Canadian insurer Sun Life hired Jimmy Weng as director of portfolio management in Hong Kong earlier this month, reporting to Shiuan Ting van Vuuren, Hong Kong chief investment officer.
Weng was previously a portfolio manager at Chinese joint venture firm ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management (International), which did not reply to AsianInvestor's query about his departure.
He is now responsible for managing portfolio asset allocations and works with Sun Life Hong Kong’s external asset managers and in-house investment teams, a spokeswoman said. She declined to comment on who had been in the role previously.
Sun Life Financial Asia has C$24 billion ($17.9 billion) of assets under management, but does not break out figures for its individual markets in the region, the spokeswoman said.
AMP CAPITAL NAMES REAL ESTATE DEBT HEAD
AMP Capital has appointed Rebecca Smith as head of real estate debt for Australia. She is expected to join the Australian asset manager in early April.
She will report to Carmel Hourigan, global head of real estate, and will also join AMP Capital’s real estate leadership team. Both are based in Sydney.
Smith joins from Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, Future Fund, where she held the role of director of property.
In this newly-created role, Smith will bring in a new capability for AMP, a media statement said. The appointment builds on AMP Capital’s existing infrastructure debt capability and its acquisition of US real estate equity and debt manager PCCP in late 2017, a statement from the Australian asset manager said.
Future Fund did not immediately respond to AsianInvestor queries on when Smith left or if a replacement had been named.
FRANKLIN TEMPLETON HIRES CHINA WFOE HEAD
Franklin Templeton Investments has named Jin Mei as head of its wholly foreign owned enterprise (WFOE) for China, effective March 1.
His role is newly created and is aimed at expanding business opportunities in the mainland, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
Based in Shanghai, Jin reports to David Chang, chief executive and head for Greater China at Franklin Templeton.
Before joining Franklin Templeton, Jin was China chief representative at Natixis Investment Managers, which declined to comment on his departure as on whether a replacement has been named.
CAPITAL GROUP ADDS TO PRODUCT, DISTRIBUTION TEAMS
Capital Group has added three new executives to its distribution and product teams across Asia.
Priscilla Lau joined the US-based fund house on February 25 as Hong Kong-based director for product marketing. She was previously with Fidelity International, where she was senior investment specialist. Fidelity declined to comment on her departure.
Lau's role is newly created and her job responsibilities were previously supported by team members in Singapore and London, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor. "But as part of our ongoing business expansion in the region, we have built out the team further to provide on-the-ground support in Hong Kong," she added.
The second appointment, Richard Chan, has been named Hong Kong-based associate director of financial intermediaries for North Asia. He was previously a Hong Kong-based account associate with the global wealth management team at Pimco, a position he left in January, a spokeswoman at Pimco told AsianInvestor. Chan joined Capital group on January 21.
Previously, Chan's responsibilities were handled by Angel Wong, business development associate, who left the company in January, the spokeswoman added.
Finally, Grace Yeo joined as Singapore-based associate director of institutional business for Asia ex-Japan on December 3, 2018. She was previously with Nordea Asset Management, where she held similar roles and covered both private banks and institutions.
Nordea AM did not immediately reply to queries about her departure.
Yeo replaces Ada Zhang, who was promoted to director for institutional - Asia in April last year, the spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
Lau reports to London-based David Orr, managing director for product marketing in Europe and Asia, while both Chan and Yeo report to Wei Seow, Singapore-based senior global client support manager, Capital Group said in a media statement.
Capital Group currently employs more than 280 staff in the Asia Pacific, and has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.
*This story has been updated with new details about Chan's role.
BCT’S LAU KA-SHI JOINS SFC'S REIT COMMITTEE
Hong Kong’s securities regulator has appointed a 15th member to its committee on real estate investment trusts: Lau Ka-Shi, chief executive of Hong Kong-based BCT Group, an MPF product provider and trust company.
The Securities and Futures Commission has also reappointed the other 14 members to the Reit committee, whose titles and positions are listed on its website.
QBE RESTRUCTURES NEW ZEALAND OPERATIONS
Australian insurer QBE has announced changes to the structure of its New Zealand business, effective April 1.
The changes involve the creation of five business units under Andrew Corbett, chief customer officer for New Zealand Pacific, as part of the insurer's efforts to streamline operations in the Australia Pacific, which is led by Sydney-based Vivek Bhatia, chief executive officer for Australia Pacific.
The group announced last October that its operations in Australia Pacific will now include Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea) and India.
After the restructuring, Bill Donovan, previously general manager for New Zealand, has been appointed to the newly-created role of general manager for sales and relationships for New Zealand Pacific. Donovan reports to Corbett.
Neil Millar, national distribution manager, will leave the company as a result of the new role, but the spokesman did not respond to an AsianInvestor query on when Millar would leave.
Corbett also oversees functions managed by Terry Lawrence, head of strategy and support services; Melanie Gorham, head of claims; and Matthew Noy, head of product.
“The functions all existed, but under slightly different names and structure,” the spokesman told AsianInvestor.
Under the new structure, no additional hires are required but the insurer will soon be advertising for a leader for the Pacific, reporting to Corbett, the spokesman added.
DEUTSCHE WM EMERGING MARKETS CIO TO TAKE ON NEW ROLE
Tuan Huynh, chief investment officer and head of discretionary portfolio management for emerging markets at Deutsche Wealth Management, will relocate to Frankfurt from Singapore after being appointed CIO for Europe.
AsianInvestor understands that this new appointment comes on the back of the departure of Stephan Junod, who was CIO for wealth management and head of portfolio management for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Part of his role is being taken up by Huynh, AsianInvestor understands.
Huynh will continue reporting to Christian Nolting, chief investment officer for wealth management, and will remain based in Singapore until his replacement is identified and onboarded, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
The spokeswoman did not provide further details on the appointment or when Huynh will relocate to Europe.
QIC NAMES NEW CHAIRMAN
QIC, a state government-owned alternatives manager in Australia, has appointed Ian Martin as its chairman, effective April 1.
Don Luke was the previous chairman of the Brisbane-headquartered asset manager. Luke ends his term today and is retiring, while Martin formally starts on Monday, a company spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
He will continue to serve as chairman of UniSuper and chairman of Sydney’s Wayside Chapel Foundation while taking on the new role, she said.
CITY FINANCIAL POISED TO ANNOUNCE BUYERS FOR HK, SINGAPORE UNITS
London-based hedge fund firm City Financial entered administration last week and is in the process of offloading its funds; buyers for its Hong Kong and Singapore subsidiaries are expected to be announced imminently, said a spokesman for the company.
He added that City Financial’s administrators are in very advanced discussions regarding the transfer of the Hong Kong and Singapore subsidiaries to interested parties.
The firm is understood to have around $142 million under management in Singapore and around $71 million in Hong Kong.