Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 15
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FANDA HO JOINS CHUBB LIFE
Fanda Ho joined Chubb Life as global investment director – life, according to a LinkedIn post.
She will work with the Chubb team to design and implement investment strategy for the global Chubb Life businesses to support their development plan.
She was previously chief investment officer at AXA Hong Kong and Macau.
She left earlier this year and Torsten Blake-Bohm succeeded her in the role, AsianInvestor reported.
Ho joined AXA from Prudential in February 2023. AsianInvestor was the first to report on her move to AXA.
She left Prudential after more than five years and her last title there was head of investments for Hong Kong.
She previously held investment solutions and portfolio management roles at Aviva Investors and Prudential Assurance in London.
Chubb Life did not respond to an AsianInvestor enquiry for confirmation and more details on Ho's role.
AIA HIRES NEW FUND SELECTION HEAD
Ernest Low joined AIA Investment Management as head of funds selection, according to a LinkedIn post.
Low reports to Jeff Lim, AsianInvestor understands.
Lim is chief operating officer of group investments linked and pensions business, according to LinkedIn.
Low was previously the head of regional funds at UOB.
He also worked at AXA Insurance Singapore as the insurer’s head of investment and wealth management, according to LinkedIn.
AIA and UOB did not respond to AsianInvestor queries for more details.
Low succeeds Ceri Ng, whose departure from AIA IM was exclusively reported by AsianInvestor earlier.
PRIME SUPER HIRES INVESTMENT LEAD
Prime Super named Michael McQueen as general manager of investments, where he will oversee investment management and operations at the $4.5 billion Australian superannuation fund.
Based in Melbourne, McQueen replaces Jane Kang who left last year.
He will report to Prime Super’s CEO Raelene Seales, who joined from Zurich in May this year.
He joins from Foresters Financial where he was chief investment officer.
Previously, he was CIO at Media Super, where he played a key role in the fund's 2022 merger with Cbus.
McQueen’s career also includes positions as head of investment strategy at LUCRF Super (now part of AustralianSuper) and acting CIO at Kinetic Super during its merger with Sunsuper.
ASENA FAMILY OFFICE NAMES NEW CIO
Asena Family Office appointed John Likos to its newly created role of chief investment officer for its Australian operations.
Based in Sydney, Likos will lead investment strategy for the family office, which focuses on private market opportunities for US and Australian clients.
He will report to Asena's regional leadership team.
The US-based family office recently established its Australian presence through a partnership with tax advisory firm Giles Wade in February.
Likos joins from BondAdviser, where he spent five years as a portfolio manager.
Previously, he was research director at Morningstar Australia, leading a team of analysts and providing research coverage on Australian and New Zealand debt and equity markets.
STATE STREET APPOINTS SG, SEA HEAD
Jason Rich was named country head of Singapore and Southeast Asia, Sate Street, succeeding Kevin Hardy, effective January 1, 2025.
Rich is currently head of sales for Asia Pacific at State Street, a role he will retain, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
Hardy is leaving State Street to pursue other opportunities, the spokesperson said.
The appointment was made after a comprehensive internal and external search.
Rich joined State Street in 2018. He was previously the company's head of sector solutions (sales) in Asia Pacific and head of asset owners and official institutions of Asia Pacific, according to LinkedIn.
Capital Group appointed Marketa Dvorak as managing director, global financial institutions (GFI) in Asia Pacific.
Based in Singapore, Dvorak will report to Nick Shaw, head of client group, GFI, who oversees GFI operations in both Asia and Europe from London.
Her responsibilities include working with local client groups, which cover both institutional investors and financial intermediaries) to cultivate partnerships with global and regional distributors.
This is a new role, with no one performing this function previously, a Capital Group spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
She was previously head of Southeast Asia, global wealth management group at Wellington Management.
She relocated from London to Singapore in 2015 to build out Wellington’s wealth business in Asia Pacific.
Her responsibilities are being covered by other members of the firm’s APAC wealth team, a Wellington Management spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
COLLIERS BOLSTERS CAPITAL MARKETS PRESENCE IN APAC
Colliers named Alex Worthington as director, APAC capital markets, key client account management and investor intelligence.
Based in Singapore, Worthington will report to Chris Pilgrim, managing director of global capital markets, Asia Pacific.
Worthington is expected to drive multi-service revenue growth and help the capital markets team deepen relationships across the Asia Pacific, particularly with institutional grade capital, clients and investors.
Worthington was previously CEO of Virgate, an analytics and data portal for institutional grade, commercial real estateIn, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also worked with JLL previously.
AsianInvestor was unable to contact Virgate.
Separately, Colliers also named Akira Kuno as deputy managing director and co-head of capital markets in Japan.
Kuno will work closely with Yukihiro Ogasawara, managing director and chairman of Japan, and other stakeholders to drive ongoing expansion of the company’s capital markets business in Japan.
Kuno previously worked with entities such as GE Capital Real Estate, Mitsubishi Corporation, UBS Realty (now KJR Management), and Hulic.
Colliers did not respond to AsianInvestor enquiries for more details on Worthington's and Kuno's roles.
FIERA CAPITAL NAMES INVESTORS RELATIONS DIRECTOR
Fiera Capital appointed Hong Kong-based Bradley Bester as director of investor relations, for its ANZ real estate debt strategy.
Bester will report to Joshua Bartlow, managing director and portfolio manager of the ANZ real estate debt strategy.
He joins from Arkkan Capital, a Hong Kong-based alternative asset manager, a spokesperson told AsianInvestor.
He has 10 years of investor relations experience.
Bester will bolster Fiera's distribution efforts for the strategy, which provides senior real estate-backed loans secured with first ranking mortgages in Australia and New Zealand.
HKIFA APPOINTS HONORARY ADVISOR
The Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (HKIFA) appointed Stephen Po as honorary advisor, effective November 12.
In this newly created role, Po will offer advice and insights on regulatory matters in Hong Kong and mainland China that are pertinent to Hong Kong's fund management industry.
His term will be for the current term of HKIFA Executive Committee, which ends in August 2025.
Po is currently an independent non-executive director of Citibank (Hong Kong) and China Securities. He is also a member of the Hang Sang Index Advisory Committee.