Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 22
Henderson names Asia equities head
Henderson Global Investors has hired Andrew Gillan to head its Asia ex-Japan equities team out of Singapore as of early next year.
Gillan will join Henderson early next year and manage the firm’s £200 million ($323.7 million) Henderson Asia Pacific Capital Growth Fund and its $33 million Henderson Horizon Asian Growth Fund, which were both previously overseen by John Crawford, London-based director of pan-Asian equities.
Crawford will now focus on the firm’s absolute return strategies and continue to oversee the firm’s Asian equities teams.
Gillan joins from Aberdeen Asset Management, where he was a senior investment manager in the Asia-Pacific ex-Japan equity team. He has been with Aberdeen since 2000, moving to Singapore in 2001.
Aberdeen did not provide a response by press time as to whether he has been replaced.
Henderson runs $2.3 billion in Asia ex-Japan equities across a number of strategies, including long/short and income, for institutional clients. Of this, $1.1 billion is sourced from Asia.
Credit Suisse poaches from Julius Baer
Credit Suisse Private Banking has hired Jason Yeung from rival Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer as a senior client partner. He started in the week of November 18.
In his newly created role, he will focus on ultra-high-net-worth individuals in Greater China. Yeung is based in Hong Kong and reports to Tee Fong Seng, vice-chairman and market area head for Greater China.
At Julius Baer Yeung led a team covering UHNW clients in Greater China, helping manage investments across equities, fixed income, derivatives and alternatives. Prior to that, he was Asia ex-Japan head of institutional sales at Goldman Sachs.
Julius Baer declined to comment on whether he’s been replaced.
Antony Leung leaves Blackstone for Nan Fung
Antony Leung has left Blackstone to join Hong Kong property developer Nan Fung Group as chief executive in February after helping the private equity giant to establish a business across Greater China as chairman of that region. He will retain a senior advisory role at Blackstone.
“Blackstone is in a very strong position in China, with deep relationships across the firm in the mainland and Hong Kong. Antony played a major role in helping to build these relationships,” says Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone’s chief executive, chairman and co-founder.
The firm does not plan to replace Leung, who is a former financial secretary of Hong Kong.
He joined New York-based Blackstone in 2007 as co-head with a remit to help it develop a network among senior decision-makers, build a team and help sign deals.
In that time, Leung has helped convince sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation to invest $3 billion in Blackstone funds.
Founded in 1954, Nan Fung has interests in property development, property investment, construction, property management, investment and financing. Nan Fung owns a portfolio of residential, commercial and industrial properties.
Leung was Hong Kong’s financial secretary from 2001 to 2003. From 1997 to 2001 he was a non-official member of the city’s executive council.
Prior to his stint as Hong Kong’s financial secretary, Leung was chairman of Asia for JP Morgan Chase, based in Hong Kong, between 1996 and 2001. Before that he worked for Citi in Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila and New York for 23 years in various positions including country corporate officer for China and Hong Kong.
Edhec-Risk Institute appoints Asia-based advisors
Edhec-Risk Institute has named five new members to its international advisory board, three of them from the Asia Pacific region.
The trio in question is Jacqueline Loh Wai-Yin of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Adriaan Ryder, chief investment officer at Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) and Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE)’s chief investment officer Carl Bang.
Loh has been at MAS since 1987 across a variety of departments, including finance, information technology and risk. Her current title is deputy managing director overseeing monetary policy and investment as well as the development and international group.
Ryder develops and oversees investment management strategies for QIC’s multi-asset institutional clients.
Bang oversees QFE’s investments, having joined in 2011. He previously served as Paris-based chairman and CEO of State Street Global Advisors for France, managing European and Middle Eastern investors’ assets. Before that, he was president and CIO at SSgA in Canada. He has helped establish Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.
The other two new members of the board are James Barber, CIO for Russell Investments based in Seattle, and Laurent Degabriel, who works at the European Securities and Markets Authority in Paris.
Other moves reported in AsianInvestor this week:
Nordea Asset Management starts regional buildout
Blue Rice winds down amid "structural limitations"