Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 14
Nikko AM creates trio of senior roles
Japan’s Nikko Asset Management has created a trio of new division head roles. They cover client development in the Middle East, Africa and Asia; consultant relations on a global basis; and sales in North Asia.
Ian Lewis has come on board as head of global consultant relations, based in Singapore. With 25 years of experience in finance, he was most recently a partner at London-based Ardevora Asset Management. He has also worked for companies including UBS Global Asset Management and investment consultancy Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson).
Previously Nikko AM had people covering specific markets for consultant relations, but this is the first time it has had someone responsible for this area on a dedicated global basis.
Charles Allard, becomes head of sales for North Asia based in Hong Kong. He has 25 years experience in the financial industry, most of it spent in the region, including as Asia chairman of UK hedge fund manager Winton Capital.
Nikko AM previously had people covering North Asia, but the company has now formalised the role to cover North Asia specifically.
Most recently Allard was Asia CEO at Ve Interactive, a UK-based provider of electronic commerce software. He had joined the firm in April this year, when its Hong Kong branch opened. Ve did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Nikko AM said it is aiming to expand its client base of sophisticated investors in North Asia, including through its Chinese joint venture with Rongtong Fund Management.
John Howland-Jackson, based in London, joins as vice-chairman for Europe and senior adviser for the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The firm previously handled some coverage of the Middle East from its Europe office, but this is the first time the company is formally covering these regions in this way.
He most recently worked as a senior managing director at ING Bank. His 40 years of experience in the financial industry includes developing relationships with central banks and sovereign wealth funds.
All three individuals started in their posts on November 3.
Bank of Singapore appoints new CEO
Renato de Guzman will step down as chief executive of Bank of Singapore (BoS) on January 31, 2015 at the age of 64. He will be replaced by Bahren Shaari, currently global marketing head for Southeast Asia at the OCBC-owned private bank.
De Guzman will stay on as senior adviser until June 30, 2015 to ensure a smooth transition.
He became CEO in January 2010 after 10 years as head of ING Asia Private Bank (IAPB), at the time that OCBC acquired and rebranded the Dutch firm. During his tenure at BoS, the bank’s AUM more than doubled from $23 billion to $51.1 billion as of September 30, 2014.
Shaari was part of the IAPB management team that moved to BoS, where he has been focused on driving growth in Indonesia and Malaysia. He has also worked at UBS Wealth Management, where he headed the Southeast Asia and Australia marketing team.
Neuberger adds retail salesman in Korea
US fund house Neuberger Berman added to its sales team in Seoul on November 1 with the hire of Noah Na YoungSung to cover retail business. He previously worked in retail sales at JP Morgan Asset Management.
Reporting to DY Kim, senior vice president at Neuberger in Seoul, Na will be a point of liaison with local fund firms for their retail arms.
The appointment compliments a push to build out the firm’s Korea business, as reported.
At the start of this month Neuberger signed an agreement with Samsung Securities and Samsung Asset Management to offer existing products and co-develop new strategies at the start of this month. This follows its move to register a nine-strong range of Ucits funds in Korea in September.
East Capital to open Dubai office
East Capital, a Stockholm-based emerging-markets asset manager, will open a Dubai office in the first half of next year. It will serve as a research hub for the Middle East region, but will also service local investors.
The fund house declined to comment on the likely initial headcount or who will head the office.
East Capital is also launching a new global frontier-markets strategy. The product will be an open-ended Ucits fund; a spokeswoman said there are no specific AUM or performance targets.
The frontier-markets team is headed by Peter Elam Håkansson out of Stockholm, comprising senior advisers, portfolio managers, analysts, traders, a chief economist and head of corporate governance.
East Capital said it has been adding to its regional teams over the past year, without providing details.
Investec adds in institutional sales
Investec Asset Management has added Keeran Mane as executive director for institutional sales for Southeast Asia.
Based in Singapore, Keeran was previously a director at Credit Suisse Asset Management developing institutional business and client relationships. She held that role for four years.
She also worked at Deutsche Asset Management, managing sales to private banks in Asia and before that as part of the Asia product development team.
Mane reports to Tobie van Heerden, Singapore-based head of Investec AM’s institutional business for Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Mane’s duties were previously part of van Heerden’s remit.
Investec, which has $123 billion in assets under management, grew from domestic roots in South Africa and the UK.
Morgan Stanley IM replaces EM debt co-head
Morgan Stanley Investment Management has appointed Jens Nystedt as portfolio manager and head of sovereign research for the emerging-market debt team, based in New York.
Nystedt joined on November 3 from hedge fund firm Moore Capital Management, where he was chief economist, global strategist and portfolio manager.
He takes over from Federico Kaune, who had been co-head of EM debt alongside Eric Baurmeister. Kaune departed in August, but AsianInvestor could not ascertain his next move as of press time.
Reporting to Michael Kushma, chief investment officer for global fixed income, Nystedt focuses on local-market debt and works with Baurmeister on strategy and portfolio construction.
Nystedt had been with Moore Capital since November 2008, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has also worked at hedge fund manager GLG Partners, the International Monetary Fund and Deutsche Bank.
Natixis appoints new Japan head
Laurent Depus has joined French bank Natixis as senior country manager for Japan and president at Natixis Japan Securities. He replaces Laurent Girault, who had been in the post since July 2009.
Girault is now senior country manager for Brazil and chief executive Natixis Brasil Banco Múltiplo, reporting to to Jean-Philippe Adam, head of the Latin America platform.
Depus will oversee Natixis’ operations in Japan and its representative office in Korea, reporting to François Riahi, chief executive for Asia Pacific.
Depus was most recently chairman of SMBC Trust Bank Japan, following the acquisition by SMBC. He also worked for French bank Societe Generale since 2001 in Tokyo, serving in a number of roles, including chief country officer for Japan.
Depus began his banking career in 1987 at Chase Manhattan (now JP Morgan Chase). In 1996 he joined Bank of Nova Scotia (now Scotiabank) in London, before moving to BankBoston in Singapore as head of treasury and FX for Asia in 1997.
Chi-X Australia names head of market operations
Chi-X Australia, part of electronic trading platform operator Chi-X Global, has named Peter Warton as head of market operations. He joins from Tibra Capital, a securities firm specialising in equities trading, market making and asset management, where he was global head of IT operations.
Warton succeeds Jamie Crank, who has moved to a new role as head of product, responsible for developing trading solutions.
In addition, Chris Lampropoulos, who previously worked for Chi-X Canada, has joined Chi-X Australia to head the development of the market data business.
Other moves reported on AsianInvestor.net this week:
Ontario Teachers boosts equities team