Weekly roundup of people news, March 31
OMERS NAMES NEW APAC HEAD
Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) has promoted Ashish Goyal to executive vice-president and head of Asia Pacific, according to a statement on March 30.
Goyal is currently senior managing director for OMERS capital markets in APAC and will begin his new role on April 1.
As head of APAC, Goyal will be responsible for OMERS strategic growth in the region across various asset classes and for establishing new relationships and partnerships.
He will continue to be based in Singapore and will report to incoming CIO Ralph Berg, who also begins on April 1 and will succeed Satish Rai.
Prior to joining the Canadian pension fund in July 2019, Goyal was head of emerging markets at NN Investment Partners.
As one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, OMERS had C$124.2 billion (US$91 billion) in net assets and 11% of its portfolio was invested in Asia-Pacific at the end of 2022.
The fund opened its Singapore office in early 2018, and an office in Sydney, Australia, was established in 2014.
OMERS seeks to invest in equities, lend to top-quartile borrowers and partner with co-investors in Asia. It holds public market assets across the Asia-Pacific, including bonds, credit and publicly listed equities.
It also holds various private assets in sectors such as digital and traditional infrastructure, real estate, renewable energy and logistics.
OMERS did not provide AsianInvestor with further information on any replacement for Goyal’s current role.
CBUS CHIEF EXECUTIVE TO RETIRE
Chief executive of Cbus Justin Arter will retire from the A$73 billion (US$49 billion) industry super fund in May.
Arter will retire from the fund following the completion of its mergers with Media Super and EISS Super.
The fund is currently in the process of refocusing its attention to organic growth and member retention.
Upon his departure, chief investment officer Kristian Fok will serve as interim chief executive.
Arter joined the fund in July 2020, after previously serving in leadership roles at BlackRock and Victorian Funds Management Corporation.
Cbus chair Wayne Swan thanked Arter for his tenure and credited the departing chief executive with the successful navigation of two significant mergers, expanding Cbus' funds under management, and growing the fund’s membership and industry footprint.
ALLIANCEBERSTEIN GLOBAL CO-HEAD OF EQUITY TRADING IN NEW ROLE
Industry veteran Emma Quinn has assumed the position of president at Cboe Australia, with effect from March 27. She is based in Sydney.
Quinn replaces former CEO Vic Jokovic, who will step down on March 31. Jokovic will remain in an advisory role to help ensure a seamless leadership transition.
Quinn joins the firm from AllianceBernstein, where she was global co-head of equity trading.
Previously, she served as head of Asia-Pacific trading, head of Asia-Pacific fixed income and Australia equities trading, and head of Trading for Australia and New Zealand for the firm.
Following Quinn’s departure from AllianceBernstein, the firm has since moved to a single global head structure a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
JLL NAMES MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR TAIWAN
JLL has promoted Kevin Hou to managing director of JLL Taiwan, effective April 1, to lead the company in its strategic initiatives to expand the firm’s business in Taiwan.
Hou will report to Bessie Lee, CEO of Greater China.
Former managing director Tony Chao was also promoted to executive chairman of the JLL Taiwan office and will continue to support the growth of the company’s businesses in Taiwan.
Chao joined JLL Taiwan in 1989.
Before the promotion, Hou was JLL Taiwan’s senior director and head of strategic consulting. The firm is in the process of hiring his successor, it told AsianInvestor.
Hou has over 24 years of experience in the real estate industry. He joined JLL in 1999 and has led JLL's strategic consulting business since 2012.
WHAMPOA GROUP ADDS CO-HEADS TO DIGITAL INVESTMENT ARM
Singapore-based multi-family office Whampoa Group appointed Sherwin Koh and Tim Tan as co-heads of public market investments for its digital investment arm Whampoa Digital to oversee Whampoa’s public market investments in digital assets, the firm confirmed with AsianInvestor.
They began their newly created roles in March 2023 and report to Whampoa Group chief executive officer Shawn Chan.
Koh is a self-taught software engineer with three years of Web3 technology experience.
He previously worked at Immin and Otonomos, which offers blockchain-based corporate services.
Tan has experience in decentralised finance, specifically in protocols, applications and lending and yield strategies.
He has been trading digital assets since 2017, when he joined QCP Capital as one of its earliest employees.
Whampoa Group launched Whampoa Digital in December 2022 to focus on investments in equity and tokens of products and services that facilitate Web3 adoption.
This story has been updated to reflect company confirmation of hires.
LINEDATA OPENS SINGAPORE OFFICE
Linedata, a global provider of credit and asset management technology, data and services, is opening of its new office in Singapore, supplementing its existing Asia Pacific offices in Hong Kong, Mumbai and Chennai.
Linedata in Asia is headed by managing director Sally Crane. The company’s headquarter is in Paris, with a total of 20 offices globally.
Linedata plans to recruit new talent and skills for the Singaporean office, the firm said in a press release.
IQ-EQ SETS UP DUBAI OFFICE
IQ-EQ said it opened an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, marking the group’s first physical presence in the Middle East.
The new office is located in the Dubai International Financial Centre.
IQ-EQ is approved to offer investor services to clients ranging from corporate businesses to ultra-high net-worth individuals and family offices.
The office will be led by Tariq Nakhooda, senior executive officer, who joined IQ-EQ in 2022 to establish, build and lead the new venture.
Initial operations will include helping clients with local and international structuring requirements, including company and foundation formation and management, compliance services, corporate secretarial and accounting services.
The office plans to offer full-fledged domestic fund administration in due course, after it wins the required regulatory approvals.
Nakhooda will work closely with Sridhar Nagarajan, IQ-EQ’s regional managing director for Africa, India and the Middle East, while Rehma Imrith, chief commercial officer for Africa, India and the Middle East.
COLLIERS INDIA EXPANDS INDIA TEAM
Colliers India has expanded its capital markets and investment services capabilities by adding new businesses and strengthening its team.
The new businesses include hospitality, special situations and industrial capital markets, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Anant Bir Singh was named senior director and head, Bangalore; Ashwini Sharma was named senior director and head for North India; Nikhil Shah was named director and head of hospitality and Harshad Dhande was appointed director and head of special situations, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not provide further details on the hires at the time of publication.