Weekly roundup of people news: Nov 12
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AIA MYANMAR CEO JOINS SUN LIFE VIETNAM
AIA Myanmar’s former chief executive officer Luc Nhon Ly has joined Sun Life Vietnam as CEO. The appointment was made after Sun Life Vietnam's former CEO Larry Madge returned to Sun Life’s headquarters in Toronto, Sun Life Financial announced on Tuesday (November 9).
Based in Ho Chi Minh City, Ly has started his new role on September 27, reporting to Ingrid Johnson, Sun Life Asia President. Ly is also a member of the Sun Life Asia Executive team.
Former Vietnam CEO Madge is now Sun Life’s senior vice president of financial and insurance risk management.
Ly has more than 26 years of expertise in executive, finance, strategy, and actuarial roles across Vietnam, Myanmar and Canada. Prior to Sun Life, he was with AIA for 14 years, and was most recently CEO of AIA Myanmar. AIA declined to comment on Ly's replacement plan.
ACTIVE SUPER APPOINTS COUNCILLOR NATHAN HAGARTY TO ITS BOARD
Active Super has appointed councillor Nathan Hagarty to the board of Directors as an employer-nominated director, effective on December 5.
Hagarty will fill the board seat left vacant by Domenico Figliomeni who has reached the end of his four-year term. Mr Figliomeni also served on the investment committee and on the boards of LIF and Local Government Financial Services.
Under the nomination process, Hagarty will be joining Active Super as one of three representatives of Local Government NSW.
Hagarty is a councillor of Liverpool City Council, chair of the Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre and director of Settlement Services International. He also works as the Chief of Staff for the Federal Member for Werriwa, Anne Stanley, and has held various IT roles throughout his career.
The appointment of Hagarty is the second employer nominee to the Active Super Board in 2021 following the appointment of Declan Clausen in March.
QIC APPOINT NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Following a four-month global recruitment process, Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) has appointed Kylie Rampa as its new chief executive officer.
Rampa will replace current CEO Damien Frawley, who has led the organisation for over nine years. Frawley who announced his retirement in June, will remain as CEO of the Queensland Government’s investment manager until Rampa begins in April 2022.
QIC Chair Ian Martin said Rampa's appointment had been approved by QIC's Board and the Queensland Government.
Rampa joins QIC from Lendlease where she is currently group head of investments, and a member of the global leadership team and global investment committee, where she is responsible for driving the group's global strategy to grow Lendlease's funds under management and strategic capital partnerships. Prior to joining Lendlease in 2013, Rampa spent 13 years at Macquarie, and has also previously worked at Gandel Group, AMP and Schroders.
KIC HEAD OF REAL ESTATE DEPARTS
Korea Investment Corporation’s head of real estate group Cha Hoon has left the Korean sovereign fund in October after being appointed to the position two months ago.
Head of the alternative investment division Kim Jong-ho has been an interim head of real estate after Cha’s departure, KIC told AsianInvestor. It declined to comment on Cha’s replacement plan or whether he has returned to the private equity investment sector in Korea as local media reported.
Cha joined KIC in 2012. In late August, he was appointed as the head of real estate from his previous post as head of infrastructure amid a senior executive reshuffle at KIC.
As of the end of August, KIC managed $201 billion of assets, including 16% in alternative investments.
NPS LOSES INFRASTRUCTURE AND REAL ESTATE HEADS
Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the world’s third-largest pension fund, has lost both its infrastructure and real estate investment heads, according to Korea Economic Daily citing pension fund industry sources.
It reported that Kim Jee-yeon, head of infrastructure investment, and Kim Hyun-soo, head of real estate investment, have both resigned and will be leaving the organisation by the end of November.
NPS is considering selecting their successors in-house. Both Kim Jee-yeon and Kim Hyun-soo are moving to the private sector, local media said.
They have been responsible for NPS’s alternative investments since being promoted to the positions in early 2019. Kim Jee-yeon was the first female head of an investment team in the history of NPS, according to Korea Economic Daily.
NPS did not respond to AsianInvestor’s request for comments.
EASTSPRING ADDS TWO REGIONAL CEOS
Eastspring Investments, the $254 billion asset management business of Prudential, announced on November 9 a new regional management structure with the appointment of Xavier Meyer and Wendy Lim into newly created roles of regional chief executives, reporting to Wai-Kwong Seck, chief executive officer at the asset manager.
Xavier Meyer, who joined Eastspring in 2014 and is currently global head of distribution, will take on new management responsibilities and oversee the Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Europe and US businesses as regional CEO North Asia, Europe and US. Functionally, he will continue to spearhead the Institutional business globally and lead the product function, client service and distribution offices.
Wendy Lim, who will be joining Eastspring on November 19, will assume management responsibilities and oversee Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam as regional CEO for Southeast Asia. Lim joins Eastspring from Manulife Investment Management, where she was CEO for Singapore and regional head of high-net-worth segment for Asia.
Meyer and Lim will be both based in Singapore. “In September, Wendy Lim resigned from her roles as CEO of Singapore and head of high net worth segment, Asia, to pursue other opportunities. Search for the replacement is ongoing and Hui-Jian Koh, head of retail partnerships and distribution, will cover her responsibilities in the interim,” according to a spokesperson from Manulife Investment Management.
Seck will continue to have direct oversight of Eastspring’s India and China businesses, assisted by Xavier (India) and Janelle Yeo (China), who is currently head of corporate strategy and chief of staff.
MANULIFE IM ADDS TO FIXED INCOME TEAM FOR CHINA
Manulife Investment Management has appointed Isaac Meng as managing director and portfolio manager for fixed income, and Judy Kwok as head of Greater China fixed income research, to its Asia fixed income team.
The appointments are part of the firm’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its fixed income research and investment capability and bolster its commitment to the China market and are effective from November 8.
Meng will be responsible for managing Manulife’s China bond strategies and will work closely with the Asian fixed income team across the region, providing insights into the China market. He will be based in Hong Kong and report to Paula Chan, senior managing director and senior portfolio manager of Asia fixed income.
Kwok, also based in Hong Kong, will lead the firm’s Greater China fixed income research efforts. She is responsible for managing the credit teams in Greater China, as well as overseeing fixed income research activities in Greater China and North Asia. Kwok will report to Fiona Cheung, head of global emerging markets fixed income research.
Prior to his appointment, Meng was senior vice president, portfolio manager and macro strategist at Pimco and led the firm’s China fixed income strategy and macro analysis function. Before that, he was at BNP Paribas Securities Asia as a senior economist.
Kwok was previously at the Bank of Singapore as director of fixed income research, and has previously worked in senior research positions at Fidelity International and First State Investments in Hong Kong.
WTW NAMES NEW ASIA HEAD
Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has named Clare Muhiudeen as head of Asia, effective November 10.
Based in Hong Kong, Muhiudeen will be reporting to Pamela Thomson-Hall, head of international at WTW. She succeeds Scott Burnett, who is currently transitioning from his Asia geography role into his new position as WTW chief commercial officer in the Risk & Broking operations worldwide.
Most recently, Muhiudeen has been leading the company’s Human Capital & Benefits segment across WTW International and has worked with multinational companies in a range of sectors, including engineering, airlines, luxury brands, telecommunications, professional services and many more.
There will be no replacement of her previous role as the firm will not have that position moving forward as the segment she used to run will be structured differently from 1 January next year, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
CARLYLE GROUP NAMES NEW INDIA CO-HEAD
Carlyle named Mumbai-based Amit Jain as a managing director based in Mumbai and co-head of the Carlyle India investment advisory team.
Jain joins Carlyle after ten years at Blackstone, where most recently he served as a senior managing director in the private equity group, based in Mumbai.
In addition, Neeraj Bharadwaj and Ling Yang, the current head of healthcare in China, have been appointed co-heads of healthcare across Asia.
Carlyle declined to comment on more details and Blackstone did not respond to emailed questions on replacement.
JUPITER NAMES NEW CIO