Weekly roundup of people news, May 3
VALUE PARTNERS CEO JUNE WONG RESIGNS
Value Partners Group’s June Wong Wai-man resigned and stepped down as the chief executive officer (CEO) and executive director with immediate effect to pursue other personal commitments, the firm announced on April 26.
Wong will serve as an advisor to the board immediately and for the remainder of the calendar year. She ceased to be a member of the risk management committee.
Her responsibilities as CEO will be taken over by the company’s leadership committee, currently comprising co-chairmen and co-chief investment officers Cheah Cheng Hye and Louis So Chun-ki, while the company searches for a new CEO.
Based in Hong Kong, Wong joined Value Partners as president in October 2021 and became CEO in July 2022. Before that, she held regional leadership positions at State Street Global Advisors, Columbia Threadneedle, AllianceBernstein, and HSBC Asset Management.
VFMC HIRES SENIOR PORTFOLIO MANAGER
The Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC) has appointed Kuek Chyuan Low as a senior portfolio manager, based in Melbourne.
Low transitions to the Victorian state wealth fund after 12 years at super fund-owned Frontier Advisers, where he recently held the position of principal consultant.
Low’s career prior to Frontier included a role as a research and valuation analyst at Fairfax Media and PwC’s advisory division.
JAPAN LIFE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION NAMES NEXT CHAIR
The Life Insurance Association of Japan (LIAJ) nominated Hideki Nagashima as chairperson-elect to serve the next annual term.
Nagashima is president of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company and currently serving as vice chairperson of the LIAJ.
He will formally be elected at a board meeting scheduled after the LIAJ's extra general meeting, which is scheduled on July 19. LIAJ is currently chaired by Hiroshi Shimizu, president of Nippon Life Insurance.
GAW CAPITAL PARTNERS MAKES SENIOR APPOINTMENTS
Private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners added Cho Hyun-Chan and Elizabeth Di Cioccio to its senior leadership team in efforts to expand in Asia and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.
Cho joins Gaw Capital as managing director, head of infrastructure and head of Korea. He will drive Gaw Capital’s infrastructure investment initiatives and expand its business in Korea. He is based in Hong Kong.
Elizabeth Di Cioccio joins as managing director, capital markets, EMEA. She will be responsible for Gaw Capital’s capital markets division in the EMEA region, driving strategic initiatives and continuing to foster key relationships. She is based in Portugal.
In the newly created roles, Cho reports to Kenneth Gaw, president and managing principal, while Di Cioccio reports to Christina Gaw, managing principal, global head of capital markets, and co-chair of alternative investments, the firm told AsianInvestor.
Cho joined from IMM Investment, where he headed the infrastructure investment division. Before that, he was at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for nearly 20 years across alternative asset classes and portfolio management.
Di Cioccio has nearly 20 years of experience in capital markets. Prior to joining Gaw Capital, she served as managing director and head of Middle East and at KKR, focusing on raising capital from Gulf Cooperation Council-based sovereign wealth funds and other institutional clients.
PICTET AM BOLSTERS HK MULTI ASSET TEAM
Pictet Asset Management announced the addition of Lorraine Kuo to their team as senior investment manager in the multi asset division based in Hong Kong, on May 2.
Kuo will report directly to Andy Wong, head of multi asset Hong Kong.
She brings over 20 years of experience and was most recently head of private equity at Cypress Capital Hong Kong.
Before that, Kuo spent over a decade at Invesco Hong Kong, last serving as senior fund manager for equity investment.
LINKLATERS ADDS TO INDIA-FOCUSED PRACTICE IN SINGAPORE
Law firm Linklaters hired Sayak Maity as a partner in the firm’s corporate practice based in Singapore.
Maity regularly advises global private equity funds on investments in India and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Linklaters moved the leadership of its India practice to Singapore in December 2023, with the appointment of Amit Singh as head of the group. London-based corporate partner Sushil Jacob continues to play a key role in Linklaters’ India practice working with the Singapore team to advise on India-related global mandates.
Sayak joined April 1 from White & Case where he was a partner in the mergers and acquisitions and private equity practice group, initially based in London before moving to Singapore.
London-based India practice partners, Savi Hebbur and Narayan Iyer, left Linklaters at the end of April. Hebbur joined the White & Case London office on May 1 as a partner in the India country practice and global M&A practice, a spokesperson told Asianinvestor.
Prior to White & Case, Sayak was a partner with AZB & Partners in Mumbai.
WHITE & CASE ADDS JAPAN PRIVATE MARKETS PARTNER
Law firm White & Case LLP has added partner Eriko Sakata in Japan, effective May 1.
Based in Tokyo, Sakata is an investment funds and real estate partner in the mergers and acquisitions practice and part of the global private equity industry group.
Sakata is an investment funds partner with additional expertise in real estate, infrastructure, financial regulation and structured finance. She advises global asset managers and blue-chip corporations on the establishment and operation of large-cap investment platforms, advising on fund formation, financial regulation, structured finance and downstream in-bound acquisitions, including real estate, infrastructure and renewable energy.
Sakata brings more than 20 years of experience and joins White & Case from Linklaters, where she was a partner.
MARKETAXESS HIRES EMERGING MARKETS HEAD
Fixed income platform provider MarketAxess appointed Dan Burke as global head of emerging markets (EM), effective April 15
In this newly created role, Burke reports to Raj Paranandi, chief operating officer for Asia Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Burke most recently served as managing director at Standard Chartered in Singapore and London in his role as global head of electronic and algo trading.
Prior to joining Standard Chartered, he held senior credit trading roles at Deutsche Bank in Singapore and Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo and Hong Kong.