Weekly roundup of people news, March 13
SSGA LOSES HEAD OF APAC TRADING
David Rogers, the former head of Asia-Pacific trading at State Street Global Advisors, left the US asset manager in late February, AsianInvestor can reveal.
John Tucker, investment chief operating officer responsible for SSGA’s global trading organisation, and Kevin Anderson, head of investments for Asia Pacific, are working to appoint a replacement for Rogers, said a spokeswoman for the firm.
Tommy Cheung, deputy head of Asia-Pacific trading, is managing the desk in the interim, she said.
AsianInvestor could not ascertain where Rogers might be going.
NEW PROPERTY FUND MANAGER HIRES BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT HEAD
Singapore-baed JadeTree Partners, a newly set up real estate fund manager, has appointed family office veteran Ong Iu-Jin to head business development.
The firm is raising its first fund to target assets in hospitality property, where it expects to see a raft of opportunities in the next stage of the economic cycle, Ong told AsianInvestor. JadeTree's anchor investor is Getz Group, a Singapore-based family-owned conglomerate.
Ong started this week as a director, bringing the management team up to six at JadeTree. He and Andrea Cattaneo, director and fund manager at JadeTree, will lead capital-raising for the strategy and are targeting a final close of $300 million. Cattaneo remains vice president of strategic development at Getz.
Since 2015 Ong has worked as an adviser to family offices. His prior experience includes setting up and overseeing Swiss private bank UBP’s Asia multi-family office (MFO) business until 2015, and before that founding and running Deauville Private Office, a Singapore MFO.
Getz, the fund's seed investor, has expertise in the hospitality sector. It owns Louis T. Collection, a boutique hotel management company, and Alliance Hospitality, a hospitality consulting firm with activities in Greater China, as well as Namara Wealth Advisors, a Singapore licensed multi-family office.
Alliance Hospitality and Namara are the partners in JadeTree.
FRANKLIN TEMPLETON UNVEILS NEW ASIA SALES HEAD FOR ALTERNATIVES
US fund house Franklin Templeton has hired Richard Surrency as Asia head of alternatives sales. Based in Singapore, he joined on January 15 from London-based asset manager Algebris Investments, where he was most recently managing director for capital strategy.
Reporting to Mark Browning, Franklin Templeton’s Asia head, Surrency takes up a post previously held by Scott Collinson, who left the firm in 2017.
Franklin Templeton has $41 billion in alternatives assets under management across various various asset classes and businesses.
Moreover, the firm will acquire Clarion Real Estate Partners, which has $51.7 billiion in AUM, once its merger with Legg Mason – unveiled last month – is complete. A spokeswoman declined to confirm whether Surrency would be oversee sales for that business as well.
Surrency had spent seven years at Algebris, where he had been responsible for capital raising in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Algebris is seeking a replacement for him.
Before that he was Asia-Pacific co-head at Legal & General Investment Management, Asia head of transition management at Morgan Stanley and head of regional sales for Bank of New York Mellon in Singapore.
HSBC NAMES APAC HEAD FOR TRADE FINANCE DISTRIBUTION
HSBC has appointed Chan I-mei in Singapore as Asia-Pacific head of portfolio management and distribution for global trade and receivables finance (GTRF).
She joined from Deutsche Bank on March 9 to replace Kenneth Tay, who left HSBC late last year, a company spokesman said.
At Deutsche Bank, Chan was Asia-Pacific head of distribution & credit solutions and trade finance for finance institutions. She was succeeded by Sebastien Avot last month, a spokeswoman said.
HSBC is ramping up its coverage of institutional investors looking to buy and sell trade finance assets, it said in a press release.
Chan reports jointly to Ajay Sharma and Surath Sengupta, who are respectively Hong Kong-based head of GTRF for Asia Pacific and London-based global head of portfolio management and distribution for GTRF.
KKR APPOINTS GLOBAL IMPACT HEAD IN ASIA
US private equity giant KKR appointed Wong Chee-Wei as its first head of global impact for Asia in January, according to his LinkedIn page. A spokeswoman declined to provide an exact date for when he joined.
Wong was previously a managing director at New York-based private equity firm Tailwind Capital. Prior to that he spent nine years at EQT in New York and Singapore. Tailwind did not respond to questions on Wong's responsibilities, exactly when he left, or how it was replacing him.
Singapore-based Wong is responsible for sourcing investment opportunities and supporting impact-related portfolio companies across Asia Pacific. He reports to Robert Antablin and Ken Mehlman, co-heads of global impact at KKR.
The firm launched the global impact business in 2018, and Wong's appointment reflects the growing importance of Asia Pacific within its impact strategy.
The addition of Wong follows KKR Global Impact’s recent international expansion with the appointments of Stanislas de Joussineau as head of global Impact for Europe and Sharon Yang as a senior investor for KKR Global Impact in Asia.
LIPPO KARAWACI GETS FIRST CIO
Indonesian real estate company Lippo Karawaci (LK) appointed Surya Tatang chief investment officer. In this newly created role, Tatang is responsible for the company’s real estate fund management business and the company’s investment activities.
Tatang had previously served as chief financial officer (CFO) of LK since 2015. That role will be taking over by Tevilyan Yudhistira Rusli effective April 16. He spent the last 20 years at Unilever, most recently as chief auditor and CFO in Indonesia.
Both Tatang and Rusli will report to John Riady, chief executive officer of LK, and serve on the company’s board of directors.
Prior to joining LK, Tatang served as the CFO for internet services company PT Link Net from 2013 to 2015, following 15 years in Lippo Group’s corporate finance division between 2001 and 2015.
LOMBARD ODIER IM NAMES HEAD OF STEWARDSHIP
Swiss firm Lombard Odier Investment Managers has appointed Rebeca Coriat as head of stewardship, a newly created role responsible for engaging with companies to develop sustainable business models and practice.
London-based Coriat reports to Christopher Kaminker, head of sustainable investment research, strategy and stewardship. He used to cover the Coriat's new responsibilities, and will continue to oversee Lombard Odier's overall stewardship efforts, the firm’s spokeswoman said.
Coriat joined from Investec Asset Management, where she was an ESG analyst.
HSBC NAMES APAC HEAD OF WEALTH AND PERSONAL BANKING
HSBC has appointed Greg Hingston as Asia Pacific head of wealth and personal banking, effecting April 1.
Based in Hong Kong, Hingston reports to Charlie Nunn, chief executive officer of wealth and personal banking and Peter Wong, deputy chairman and CEO of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
Hingston is stepping into the shoes left vacant by Kevin Martin, who has been named chief operating officer and head of digital transformation, wealth and personal banking.
Hingston is currently head of wealth and personal banking in Hong Kong and will continue to oversee those duties until HSBC appoints his successor.
SUN HUNG KAI PROPERTIES NAMES INVESTOR RELATIONS HEAD
Joseph Fuqua, former Hong Kong-based vice president for business development at private equity firm Clearwater Capital Partners, has joined Sun Hung Kai Properties as its head of investor relations.
He joined the property giant in February, his LinkedIn profile shows. Clearwater Capital Partners and Sun Hung Kai Properties did not immediately reply to AsianInvestor’s queries about the move.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the past week: