Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 21
Ping An AM names new Hong Kong chief
Jack Chang has assumed the newly created role of chief executive at Hong Kong-based Ping An of China Asset Management, a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance.
He joined the firm in July from Chinese bank ICBC, where he had been executive director for the firm’s then newly established futures and options arm since January last year.
That role was an addition to his positions of CEO and CIO of ICBC Asia Investment Management, which he held from June 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He assumes the functions previously held by Benjamin Rudd, former head of overseas investment and managing director. Rudd left Ping An in March to join family office Caravel Asset Management in Hong Kong as chief investment officer, as reported.
At ICBC, Chang was responsible for the group’s investment platform outside China. He had joined ICBC Asset Management, sister company to ICBC Asia Investment Management, in June 2011 as executive director.
Before that, he had been deputy director of strategic investments at Bank of China in Hong Kong since 2009. In that role he was responsible for secondary market and direct investments.
He joined BoC from HSBC in Taiwan, where he was CIO. He has also worked at ABN Amro Asset Management in Hong Kong, ReachCapital Management and JW Seligman in New York, Putnam Investments in Boston, Columbia Management in Portland, and Scudder, Stevens and Clark in New York.
LGM names Greater China equities head
LGM Investments, part of BMO Global Asset Management, has appointed Stephen Ma as head of Greater China equities, effective November 3.
He replaces Pamela Chan, who retired at the end of October after 20 years at the firm. Based in Hong Kong, Ma reports to chief investment officer Thomas Vester.
Before joining LGM, Ma was responsible for $4 billion of assets in China and Hong Kong funds at Fidelity, which he joined in 1997. He was appointed a portfolio manager in 2006.
Ma’s portfolios have been handed to Oscar Leung. He joined Fidelity in August from Manulife, where he managed Hong Kong and China portfolios.
Prior to that, he was an investment analyst for Southeast Asia at both EK Investment Management and Hambro Pacific Fund Management.
LGM manages global emerging, Asian and frontier-market strategies. It already has a Canada-domiciled China fund and plans to launch a China-focused Ucits vehicle for investors in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
BMO Financial Group acquired independent manager LGM in April 2011.
Chris Smailes joins Sheffield Haworth in AM practice
Christopher Smailes joined search firm Sheffield Haworth on November 17 as executive director in its asset management practice, a newly created role.
He is based in New York but will spend a lot of time in Hong Kong, working on cross-regional hires between Asia and the US. He joins from recruiter Eban International, where he had worked from 2006 as a partner. He moved from London to Hong Kong in 2008 to oversee the asset management practice there.
Before that, he worked from 2002 as a managing consultant at search boutique FSS, which services asset management and investment banking clients.
In Asia, Sheffield Haworth has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney. The firm covers asset management, wealth management and alternatives and globally has a team of 27 consultants and researchers, eight of which are based in Asia.
Philip Williams is the lead for asset management in Hong Kong, while wealth management is covered out of Hong Kong and Singapore.
“We’re seeing demand for talent within higher-yielding asset classes,” Smailes told AsianInvestor.
While the talent pool in Asia is recognised as shallow, firms in the region are prepared to look to North America and Europe to import staff, said Williams.
Auda International adds selector
So Eunseok started at Auda International’s Hong Kong office as a senior vice president on November 14. He is tasked with selecting private equity funds of funds.
The firm declined to confirm whether the role was newly created.
Before that, he spent three years at Flag Squadron Asia, which was formed following Flag Capital’s acquisition of Squadron Capital in November 2012.
Auda is one of the Harald Quandt family’s three alternative investment firms, which combined have $12 billion under management and are represented by HQ Capital.
David Pierce, Squadron’s founding CEO, was appointed as HQ Capital’s Asia head on June 2 this year. Squadron was set up in 2006 as the private equity arm of family office Search Investment Group.
Auda also appointed Lucian Wu as a managing director of its Hong Kong office on November 7. Wu had been from 2008 co-Asia head at PE secondaries firm Paul Capital.
Prior to that he was a partner at Henderson Private Capital and a founding member of Electra Partners Asia.
So started his career at Daishin Securities in Seoul in 1999, where he headed the firm’s private equity team.
Auda allocates $5 billion to funds of PE funds on behalf of the Harald Quandt family as well as other family offices, insurance companies, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. The firm invests in private equity globally.
The two other investment firms under HQ Capital – Real Estate Capital Partners and Recap – invest in US real estate and mid-sized companies based in German-speaking countries, respectively.
KKR’s Frances Lim to relocate
Alternatives manager KKR will relocate Frances Lim, a New York-based director on its global macro asset and allocation team, to its Sydney office by the end of this year. She will be the first Asia-based member of the five-strong team, the rest of which is based in New York.
Before joining KKR in 2011, Lim was co-portfolio manager of Morgan Stanley’s MSIF Absolute Return Currency Fund, an alternative Ucits fund that was launched in 2007 and closed in 2013.
In addition, Matthew Claughton on November 10 joined the Sydney office of KKR Capstone, the firm’s operational consulting arm, which advises portfolio companies on operational issues and places executives in leadership roles.
Claughton joined from clothing firm Pacific Brands, where he was group general manager of the workwear business unit. Prior to Pacific Brands, he was beer-maker Foster’s Group’s director of strategy and business development.
Hence his new role hints at more of a consumer focus for KKR’s Australia portfolio in the future.
KKR was reported to have approached Pacific Brands about taking over the company in January 2012.
KKR first invested in Australia in 2006 and says that it has deployed more than $2 billion in the market since then.
Barclays adds in ETF, equities trading
Warren Deats joined Barclays last week in the newly created role of head of program and ETF trading for Asia.
Based in Hong Kong, Deats leads Barclays’s program and exchange-traded fund trading teams in Asia and also heads cash facilitation for Asia ex-Japan.
He reports to Vikesh Kotecha, Asia head of equities trading and Jeffrey Radtke, global head of portfolio trading.
Deats joins from Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, where he was head of program trading and ETF trading and co-head of cash facilitation. As of press time, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch had not confirmed whether Deats had been or would be replaced.
Prior to that, he held positions in cash equities trading at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank in both Hong Kong and London.
Deats’ appointment follows that of Greg Lee in September in the newly created role of head of electronic equities trading for Asia.
Based in Hong Kong, Lee joined from Deutsche Bank and leads Barclays’ algorithmic and direct market access trading business in the region. Deutsche declined to comment on whether he had been or would be replaced.
Other moves reported on AsianInvestor.net this week:
Management change at GPIF: the inside story
Allianz names new Asia insurance CIO
GAM restructuring sales team: sources
Legg Mason eyes new markets, HK buildout