Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 8
BANK OF SINGAPORE’S CIO EXITS
Rajeev De Mello, chief investment officer at Bank of Singapore, is now serving his notice period after just about one year with the bank.
There will not be any replacement for him and his duties will be shared among other members in the investment team, AsianInvestor understands.
A company spokesman said De Mello has to leave the bank as it “implements strategic organisational changes to keep us agile and relevant to grow further”.
De Mello only took up the role in about August last year. Before joining Bank of Singapore, De Mello was UK fund house Schroders’ head of Asia fixed income.
FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL APPOINTS PRESIDENT FOR CHINA
Fidelity International has appointed Daisy Ho as its first president for China, based in Shanghai, effective January 1. She will relocate from Hong Kong and also become the first general manager for Fidelity’s asset management company in China, upon approval from the regulator.
She is currently Hong Kong-based managing director for Asia ex-Japan and the Middle East, and will not be replaced in that role, the spokeswoman said.
Under local rules an asset management company can offer both private funds to qualifed investors and mutual funds to retail investors, while foreign managers' wholly-foreign owned enterprise can only offer private funds.In her new role, Ho will lead the business, investment, operations and other key functions as Fidelity prepares for its full transition from a private fund manager to an asset management company in China.
With Ho's recent appointment, Jackson Lee remains as Shanghai-based country head for China at Fidelity and he reports to Ho, a company spokeswoman said.
Ho will continue to report to Rajeev Mittal, managing director for Asia Pacific ex-Japan, she said.
VANGUARD APPOINTS HEAD OF INVESTMENT MGT GROUP FOR CHINA
Vanguard Group has appointed Yan Pu as managing director and head of investment management group for China.
Pu will relocate from Hong Kong to Shanghai to take up the new role, which is effective today (November 8). She reports to Daniel Reyes, Australia-based head of Asia Pacific investment strategy group. She is responsible for building and leading Vanguard’s China-based investment team.
Pu’s role is a newly created one to strengthen Vanguard’s China team. Prior to her new role, she was head of portfolio review for Asia at Vanguard Investments Hong Kong, a role succeeded by Axel Lomholt.
Lomholt’s former role is head of ETFs for international, and he continues to perform these duties with this new appointment, in addition to the new responsibilities for product strategy and development for the region.
He reports to Charles Lin, chief executive of Vanguard Asia. Lomholt is based in Hong Kong and London, while Lin is based in Hong Kong.
PFI MEGA LIFE NAMES CEO
Indonesian insurance firm PFI Mega Life has appointed Samdarshi Sumit as president director and chief executive, effective immediately. Sumit is based in Jakarta, Indoneasia. The lifer declined to comment on who Sumit has replaced.
Sumit joined from Bangkok-based Generali Insurance Thailand, where he was managing director. The insurer's Europe and Asia communications teams did not respond to a request for comment.
ALLIANZ REAL ESTATE APPOINTS GLOBAL RESEARCH HEAD
Allianz Real Estate, the property investment arm of German insurer Allianz, has appointed Megan Walters as its first global head of research. She started on November 1 and reports to chief investment officer Olivier Teran.
Walters joins from real estate broker JLL, where she was head of research for Asia Pacific.
Her new role at Allianz aims to expand the global research capability to support the firm's strategic ambitions, a spokeswoman told AsianInvestor. The existing research team is based in Paris and Munich.
Walters will initially be based in the Singapore office before relocating to London at a date to be decided.
She left JLL in late October, and the firm has promoted Roddy Allan to chief research officer for Asia Pacific.
EATON VANCE LURES SALES EXEC FROM ROBECO
Eaton Vance, a US asset manager, has hired Ryan Kim from Dutch fund house Robeco as Asia business development director based in Singapore.
He joined on October 31 and will cover private banks, fund of funds, institutional investors and other investors in Asia ex-Japan, but mainly in Korea. He reports to Robert White, Eaton Vance's Asia head, who had previously covered Korean clients.
Kim was most recently an executive director covering institutional clients at Robeco in Hong Kong, before which he had run the firm’s operations in Korea. A Robeco spokesman said his last day there was October 30 and that it was seeking a replacement.
Before that he had done stints at consultancy Mercer, sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation and Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities.
INVESTEC AM APPOINTS HEAD OF PRIVATE BANKING
Investec Asset Management has named John Cappetta as head of private banking and Asia adviser, effective on November 6 and based in Singapore.
Cappetta reports to Greater China head Eric Fu and Singapore head Kevin Kong, a spokeswoman said.
In his newly created role, Cappetta will develop the asset manager’s private banking distribution segment in the region. It marks the first time Investec has appointed an executive to focus on this client segment; the spokeswoman said previously the team would cover private banking clients.
He joined from Julius Baer where he was head of fund investment specialists Asia, but a spokeswoman declined to comment on whether his role will be filled.
GOLDEN EQUATOR HIRES WEALTH VETERAN
Golden Equator Wealth, a Singapore-based multi-family office, appointed private banking veteran Gary Tiernan as managing partner to head the team of wealth managers and spearhead its expansion into new markets.
He joined on November 5 and reports to Shirley Crystal Chua, founder and chief executive of Golden Equator Group.
The wealth manager team was previously led by Chua. The intention is to hire a managing partner for each of the group's businesses, a spokesman said, and they will all report to Chua.
Tiernan was most recently head of investments at Singapore-based independent wealth manager Crossinvest Asia, having joined the firm in October last year. The firm did not respond to requests for more detail about when he left and how he was replaced.
Prior to that, Tiernan held senior management roles in Singapore at Standard Chartered Private Bank, including head of investment advisory, fiduciary and sales management, and at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management. He has also worked in London and Geneva.
TRIDENT TRUST EXPANDS ASIA FUND SERVICES CAPABILITIES
The Trident Trust Group has expanded its fund services capabilities in Asia with additions to the teams in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Tony Kan has joined in Hong Kong to lead the development of the fund services business in China and North Asia.
Tony Carr has joined in Singapore as part of the firm's fund administration team, as head of the fund services department. Jonathan Chan remains head of the fund administration team in the Lion City.
Trident Trust did not say in the release who had led the fund services business in North Asia before Kan, when Carr and Kan joined, the size of the new team in Singapore or where the new additions had worked previously.
The firm did not respond to AsianInvestor’s emailed inquiries.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the last week: