Weekly roundup of people news, May 23
Franklin Templeton poaches fixed income duo from DeAWM
German fund house Deutsche Wealth & Asset Management (DeAWM) has lost two senior executives to US rival Franklin Templeton Investments.
Chris Siniakov, who was head of fixed income for Asia Pacific and responsible for $7 billion at DeAWM, is now Franklin Templeton’s managing director of fixed income for Australia.
Andrew Canobi is now director of fixed income for Templeton’s Australian investment team. He was a senior portfolio manager for global fixed income at DeAWM, where he ran the Australian investment team. He was also portfolio co-manager for global absolute return fixed income strategies investing across global developed markets.
The two began their newly created roles at Franklin Templeton earlier this month. They will develop a range of local absolute return fixed income solutions for the Australian market.
This is the first time Templeton has had an Australian fixed income team.
The team reports to Stephen Dover, managing director and international chief investment officer for local asset management.
DeAWM declined to comment on whether replacements had been found or whether the roles would be filled.
Adia fills new global research role
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) has named Christof Rühl as its first global head of research.
He is expected to join the Middle East sovereign wealth fund, which has an estimated AUM of $773 billion, in July. He will report to Khaleefa Al Qamzi, director of the fund’s evaluation and follow-up division (EFD).
Rühl will be responsible for implementing global research. The EFD advises the fund’s managing director on proposals generated by Adia’s investment departments. The research unit will support Adia's efforts to provide its senior executives with fundamental and macroeconomic research.
Rühl will also be tasked with managing the group’s relationships with global research entities and institutions.
He was most recently group chief economist at British energy group BP, a role he had held since 2005. Prior to joining BP, he served as the World Bank's chief economist in Russia and Brazil, and before that was principal economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Adia does not publish its AUM, but the $773 billion estimate by the SWF Institute would make it the world’s second largest sovereign wealth fund after Norway’s $838 billion state fund.
Neuberger Berman expands sales team
US asset manager Neuberger Berman has hired six new marketing and sales executives in Asia. The additions come after 14 of its funds were approved for retail markets in the region.
The appointments include Marco Tang from Baring Asset Management as head of retail sales for China and Hong Kong, and Katherine Low from BlackRock as head of retail sales in Singapore, moves previously reported by AsianInvestor.
In addition, Elina Choy, formerly with First State Investments, comes in as head of Asia-Pacific products and marketing in Hong Kong, and Kay So moved from AllianceBernstein to take up the role of marketing director in Hong Kong.
There are also two new channel sales executives in Taipei. Anny Wang has joined from Barings and David Huang from Allianz Global Investors.
At Barings, Tang was head of mutual fund distribution for Hong Kong, China and Singapore, a post he took up in May last year. The UK firm is believed to be seeking a replacement.
Low was vice president for retail sales at BlackRock in Singapore. It is understood that her replacement is not yet on board.
They will all report to Nick Hoar, head of Asia Pacific at Neuberger.
The firm recently had a raft of offshore funds licensed for retail distribution – 11 in Hong Kong and three in Singapore – and is seeking approval for the rest of its product range.
NBAD names head of investment in Switzerland
NBAD Private Bank (Suisse), the Swiss wealth management arm of National Bank of Abu Dhabi, has named Deutsche Bank’s Tony Zeiger as its new head of investment group.
Zeiger, who began his role in April in Geneva, is overseeing the bank’s investment advisory strategy, and leads its investment team.
He was most recently head of wealth investment advisory for the Middle East and Africa team at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management. He left the German group in March after two years in the role.
As of press time, a spokesman could not confirm whether the role was newly created. DeAWM declined to comment on whether a replacement has been found for Zeiger, or whether there will be a replacement in the future.
Moody’s names Howladar to chair new Islamic finance group
Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has named Khalid Howladar to chair its new global Islamic Finance Group.
The group will deliver analysis of sharia-compliant products, financial institutions and takaful insurers – an area it says it is keen to tap, as growing demand for Islamic finance means there is greater need for credit ratings and research dedicated to the sector.
Howladar has held various positions at Moody's since 2001, spanning both the structured finance and financial institutions groups. He will continue to provide coverage for conventional banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council with his Dubai-based banking team.
"Given the natural affinity of customers within the Gulf and Malaysia towards Islamic banking, growth of these banking assets in emerging markets is broadly twice that of conventional banks,” says Howladar.
“Saudi Arabia's domestic banking and sukuk markets are already strong, while newer markets, such as Turkey and Indonesia, also show very significant long-term growth potential," he adds.
Other people moves reported on AsianInvestor.net:
Neuberger Berman starts Asia retail buildout
UBS Global AM loses Asia head to Manulife
Barclays, BNP Paribas shuffle equity teams
Legal & General IM plans Asian investment team
CQS aims to expand in HK, eyes Asia credit