Weekly roundup of people news, Oct 23
FEDERATED HERMES ADDS ASIA AND AUSTRALIA SALES HEADS
Federated Hermes said it had added three business development directors in Asia Pacific in response to increased demand for its investment products and stewardship services.
They all started on October 21 and report to Jakob Nilsson, Singapore-based head of distribution for Asia Pacific.
Alex Ng will join Federated Hermes as head of wholesale distribution for Asia in Singapore on November 23. He is currently a director on the bank distribution team at Aberdeen Standard Investments.
Ng's responsibilities will be taken on by other members of the Asia Pacific distribution team, said a spokeswoman for Aberdeen Standard.
Gary Horton is the Federated Hermes' first Sydney-based head of distribution for Australia and New Zealand. He joins from Janus Henderson, where he was head of institutional business in Australia.
Hermes has worked with Ian Manton-Hall, a third-party marketer, in Australia since 2015, but now it is combined with Federated, the firm decided to add an in-house executive in addition to using Manton-Hall.
A spokesman for Janus Henderson told AsianInvestor that Horton had left the firm in July and that Matt Gaden, head of Australia, had taken over the institutional business in Australia. There will be an update on a replacement for Horton in 2021, he said.
Finally, Mark Coppell has relocated to Singapore with Federated Hermes as director of global liquidity for Asia Pacific. He was previously a senior institutional client relationship manager in London.
Before joining Federated Investors in 2017, he spent five years at JP Morgan Asset Management, most recently as global liquidity relationship manager.
EASTSPRING POACHES TAIWAN CEO FROM NOMURA AM
Singapore-based Eastspring Investments has hired Polly Wang as chief executive for Taiwan. She replaces Loretta Ng, who left late last year after 19 years with the firm to become head of Asia at M&G Investments.
Wang will start on November 2 and report to Seck Wai-Kwong, CEO of Eastspring, the fund management arm of insurer Prudential Corporation Asia.
Wang was previously Taiwan CEO at Nomura Asset Management. Janelle Yeo, head of corporate strategy and chief of staff at Eastspring, has been interim CEO since Ng's departure.
Maa was previously Taiwan general manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments and left the firm in mid October, said a spokeswoman. Nicole Chien, Taiwan-based head of Greater China marketing, will assume the additional role of acting general manager, subject to regulatory approval.
PEAK RE RAIDS SWISS RE FOR CHIEF ECONOMIST
Hong Kong-based reinsurance firm Peak Re has hired Clarence Wong as its first chief economist. He will start on November 16 and report to chief executive Franz Josef Hahn.
Before joining Peak Re, Wong worked as chief economist for Asia at Swiss Re since 1999. Before that, he spent nine years in HSBC’s economic research department, and worked for PwC and at Hutchison Trading.
Asked whether Wong would be replaced, a Swiss Re spokeswoman said the firm would make any announcements in due course.
CBRE NAMES INVESTMENT PROPERTY HEAD FOR HONG KONG
CBRE has appointed Jonathan Chau as Hong Kong head of investment property and private office for capital markets, effective October 20. He was previously deputy managing director for Hong Kong at property services firm Savills.
In his newly created role, Chau oversees the day-to-day operation of CBRE's investment property team. Reeves Yan, head of capital markets for Hong Kong, looked after Chau's responsibilities previously. Yan now reports to Chau, the spokesman said.
Chau reports to Tom Gaffney, Hong Kong-based managing director for the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong, and Alan Li, Shanghai-based managing director for capital markets for Greater China and president of China, a spokesman said.
Savills Hong Kong did not immediately reply to AsianInvestor's query about his departure.
CAMPBELL LUTYENS HIRES APAC SENIOR ADVISER
Placement and advisory firm Campbell Lutyens has hired Eric Marchand from Unigestion as a Singapore-based senior adviser for Asia Pacific.
He joined this month to advise on Cambell Lutyens’ fund placement and secondary activities in the region. A company spokeswoman declined to comment on his reporting line.
Marchand has not replaced anyone, she said, declining to comment on who was responsible for the duties he has assumed.
At Unigestion, Marchand had led the Asia Pacific private equity programme. The Swiss asset manager declined to comment on his departure.
VONTOBEL LOSES ASIA HEAD OF INTERMEDIARY DISTRIBUTION
Vontobel Asset Management's head of intermediary distribution for Asia and institutional business for Southeast Asia, Suzanna Wong, has left after three years in Hong Kong with the Swiss firm.
Wong was replaced by Benny Gay on October 15, who is based in Vontobel AM's new Singapore office.
BFINANCE ADDS CLIENT CONSULTANT IN AUSTRALIA
Investment consultancy Bfinance has hired Daniele Goldberg as client consultant and its second member of staff in Sydney with a view to expanding its institutional business in Australia. She started on October 19 and reports to senior director Frithjof van Zyp.
The team also works with Gerard Parlevliet, a strategic adviser to Bfinance in Australia, a spokeswoman said.
Goldberg was previously a London-based fixed income sales specialist at Lloyds Banking Group covering pension fund and insurance clients. She had worked there for a decade in various roles across Sydney and London.
QUINTET SWITZERLAND APPOINTS NEW ASIA CLIENT HEAD
Quintet Switzerland, part of Quintet Private Bank, has appointed Jing Zhang Brogle as Asia international market head based in Zurich. She will help Quintet build a team of client advisers covering Asia from Switzerland.
Zhang Brogle will start on February 1 and report to Emmanuel Fievet, Zurich-based chief executive of Quintet Switzerland. Her role was created to enhance the firm’s presence in Asia, which the firm set up in May.
Most recently she was global market manager for Asia at private bank Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) from May 2018 and left the role this month.
ICI NAMES PRESIDENT AND CEO
The Investment Company Institute (ICI), a Washington, DC-based trade association for regulated fund companies, has appointed Eric Pan as president and chief executive as of November 9.
He will succeed Paul Schott Stevens, who will retire at the year-end after 16 years in the role.
Since January Pan has been a managing director at Rock Creek Global Advisors, a Washington-based international economic policy advisory firm.
Before that, he was director of the office of international affairs at the US's Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2015 to August 2019.
Other people news reported by AsianInvestor in the past week: