Weekly roundup of people news, Mar 8
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CPP INVESTMENTS CUTS 10% OF HONG KONG JOBS
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, or CPP Investments, has cut over 10 jobs in Hong Kong, as the pension fund transfers Greater China-based public equity holdings between other internal teams, AsianInvestor understands.
CPP Investments still has close to 140 people in Hong Kong across investment departments and other functions.
“As an active investment manager, CPP Investments continuously adjusts investment measures globally based on macroeconomic factors, and risks and opportunities found in different companies, sectors, countries and/or regions. China continues to be a key part of the portfolio,” the Canadian pension fund told AsianInvestor in a statement.
AsianInvestor has reported the departure of a few executives in equities and real estate based in Hong Kong over the past 12 months.
Canada’s leading pension funds also have no plans for private equity investing in China, following a withdrawal from the sector earlier, AsianInvestor reported in August 2023.
Bloomberg first reported this news.
SAIL ADVISORS WINDS DOWN OPERATION, CIO DEPARTS
SAIL Advisors, the family office of Hong Kong duty-free shop DFS Group’s co-founder Robert Miller, is winding down its investment operation after 20 years.
It is handing over the $2 billion portfolio to external managers, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.
SAIL Advisors’ chief investment officer Harold Yoon and private equity and venture capital investment head Adrian Ng’s regulatory licenses in Hong Kong expired recently. Both Yoon and Ng are based in Hong Kong.
Yoon joined SAIL Advisors in 2009 as CIO. Before that, he was CIO of ING fund of hedge funds.
Ng joined Robert Miller’s Mari-Cha Group in 2015, and started to manage SAIL Advisors’ portfolio in 2018, according to his LinkedIn.
SAIL Advisors is one of the biggest funds of hedge funds in Asia, with offices in both Hong Kong and New York.
It is an independent affiliate of The Mari-Cha Group, which is the private investment company of Miller and his family.
SAIL Advisors didn’t immediately respond to AsianInvestor’s enquiry.
NZ SUPER GETS NEW CHAIR
John Williamson was named the new chair of the guardians of New Zealand (NZ) Superannuation board, the entity that oversees the NZ Super Fund and the Elevate NZ Venture Capital Fund, effective March 1.
Williamson joined the guardians board in May 2016, and his current term of office expires on September 30, 2025.
He has chaired the board’s employee policy and remuneration committee since April 2021.
He takes over from Catherine Drayton, who stepped down and left the board on March 1.
Drayton joined the guardians board in November 2018 and was appointed chair in April 2021.
A private company investor, Williamson has held leadership roles in listed and private equity-owned companies.
PERPETUAL NAMES ASIA DISTRIBUTION HEAD
Perpetual Group appointed Lily Cheung as head of distribution in Asia.
Cheung reports to Adam Quaife, global head of distribution at Perpetual, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
In this newly created role, Cheung recently relocated to Singapore and joined the Perpetual Group last year, having spent the last 14 years at MFS Investment Management (MFS IM).
Her latest role there was managing director of sales and relationship management with institutional clients.
Perpetual Group is a multi-boutique asset manager and owns Barrow Hanley, Trillium, J O Hambro Capital Management, Perpetual Asset Management, Pendal, TSW and Regnan.
MFS IM did not respond to AsianInvestor’s enquiries at the time of publication.
JP MORGAN AM NAMES ETF HEAD FOR JAPAN
JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) appointed Yuki Kurogi as the head of Japan ETF.
Kurogi is based in Tokyo and reports to Philippe El-Asmar, APAC head of ETF.
Kurogi joins JPMAM with a 15-year background in finance, most recently at BlackRock where he served as financial institutional sales for ETF and index investments.
Before that, he worked in Nomura Securities’ fixed income team.
BlackRock did not respond to AsianInvestor’s request for comment on Kurogi’s replacement at the time of publication.
ENERGY CAPITAL PARTNERS OPENS OFFICE IN JAPAN
Energy Capital Partners (ECP) appointed Yuki Asari as managing director and co-head of Asia investor relations. Asari also leads the launch of a Tokyo office.
Asari joins ECP from StepStone Group, where he was most recently a managing director on the business development team for Japanese institutional investors in the infrastructure, private equity, private credit and real estate space.
A ECP spokesperson declined to repsond to AsianInvestor's enquiries. StepStone did not respond to AsianInvestor’s enquiries at the time of publication.
Prior to StepStone, Asari held roles at Neuberger Berman and JP Morgan.
HYUNDAI INVESTMENT AM NAMES NEW CEO
Hyundai Investment Asset Management appointed Kim Seung Ho as chief executive officer and president, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Kim joins from Hyundai Fire & Marine Insurance where he was chief investment officer.
AsianInvestor could not ascertain who was previously CEO at Hyundai Investment AM.
Neither Hyundai Investment AM nor Hyundai Fire & Marine Insurance could be reached for comments.