Weekly roundup of people news, Nov 25
CARESUPER CHAIR ELECTED ASCI DEPUTY PRESIDENT
CareSuper chair Linda Scott was elected the deputy president of the board of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ASCI).
Scott takes over the role following the departure of Michelle Gardiner.
ACSI CEO Louise Davidson AM announced Scott's elections in an announcement on LinkedIn.
Scott was appointed as chair of CareSuper in April, taking over from Terry Wetherall. She also serves as a councilor on the City of Sydney and was formerly deputy lord mayor. She also works with the National Reform Federal Council, the Commonwealth government's Regional Banking Taskforce and the NSW Environmental Trust.
DWS NAMES HEAD OF REAL ESTATE AUSTRALIA
German asset manager DWS announced the appointment of George Anastasiou as head of real estate, Australia.
Anastasiou is based in Sydney and reports to Christopher Kimm, head of real estate for Asia Pacific. In this new role, Anastasiou has overall responsibility for the direct real estate business in Australia.
Anastasiou will be supported by a team of local real estate professionals.
Anastasiou joins DWS with more than 11 years of industry experience, most recently as the head of Australia with MEC Global Partners Asia, part of the Mitsubishi Estate Group. Prior to that, he was investment manager at AMB Capital Partners.
MEC Global Partners Asia did not respond to AsianInvestor’s request for comment on Anastasiou’s replacement at the time of publication.
FTLIFE APPOINTS CHIEF CAPITAL OFFICER
FTLife, a Hong Kong insurance company owned by local business conglomerate New World Development, appointed Alfred Hui as chief capital officer.
In this newly created role, Hui will provide insights, analyses, recommendations and soutions on financial management, internal control and corporate governance.
Hui reports to deputy chief executive officer and chief financial officer Ellick Tsui, the firm told AsianInvestor.
Hui is a veteran in the insurance industry with local and regional experience covering actuarial, marketing, risk, finance, and business development. Before joining FTLife in Hong Kong, he held senior roles at AIA, Union Life Insurance, among other insurers across different Asian markets.
Most recently, he was with AIA Indonesia as a unit-linked business consultant in Jakarta for over two years until February this year.
FIDELITY NAMES HEAD OF ASIAN FIXED INCOME
Fidelity International appointed Zhu Lei as head of Asian fixed income, taking on a leadership role within the investment management function in Asia Pacific.
Zhu will join Fidelity in January 2023 and be based in Hong Kong. She will report to Steve Ellis, global chief investment officer, fixed income.
Zhu joins Fidelity from Credit Suisse Asset Management, where she was most recently managing director and head of fixed income Asia.
She will provide strategic direction and leadership for Fidelity’s Asian fixed income business, while working closely with Fidelity’s research, trading and investment directing teams.
She will replace Marty Dropkin, who was appointed head of equities, Asia Pacific, in July.
Prior to Credit Suisse Asset Management, Zhu worked for DBS Bank and Ernst & Young.
Credit Suisse Asset Management is aligning the Asian fixed income team with the global fixed income setup. Andreas Fischer, head of global emerging markets portfolio management, will be responsible for consolidating existing global emerging products with Asia Pacific fixed-income products, the firm told AsianInvestor.
GENERALI LIFE NAMES HONG KONG CEO
Cecilia Chang was appointed chief executive officer of Generali Life (Hong Kong) and general manager of Assicurazioni Generali, Hong Kong branch. She assumed her role in Hong Kong in November and reports to Roberto Leonardi, regional officer, Asia.
She replaces Davide Glavina, whose appointment to the role was announced in March. Generali Asia did not provide any details on Glavina to AsianInvestor at the time of publication.
Chang joined the Generali group in 2016 in Hong Kong as head of financial lines and underwriting for Asia for the global corporate & commercial business (GC&C). She was appointed global head of financial lines & underwriting in GC&C and relocated to Milan in 2018.
Benedetta Marcato will replace Chang in her previous role, which sits within the insurance department led by Hayden Seach, GC&C global head of insurance, the company told AsianInvestor.
SCHRODERS APPOINTS INVESTMENT DIRECTOR
Schroders hired Swa Wu as investment director, a newly-created role in the fixed income team in Asia, effective October.
Based in Hong Kong, Swa Wu focuses on the asset manager’s global and Asian credit strategies. She reports to Jonathan Harris, investment director for credit. Swa Wu was previously with JP Morgan Asset Management, where she was senior fixed income investment specialist.
A spokesperson for JP Morgan Asset Management said while there has been no direct replacement for Swa Wu, the global fixed income, currency & commodities group had hired senior professionals earlier in 2022.
Jonathan Liang joined the global fixed income, currency & commodities (GFICC) group in April as head of Asia ex-Japan investment specialists, based in Hong Kong. Liang, who joined from AllianceBernstein, reports to London-based Travis Spence, international head of investment specialists.
Jennifer Kwan was hired in July as senior investment specialist in GFICC, based in Hong Kong and reports to Jonathan Liang. She was previously with Bank of China group, where she was chief project manager. Before that, she was chief investment officer at BOC Group Life Assurance from 2013 to 2020.
AXA IM ALTS HIRES CLIENT GROUP LEAD FOR ASIA
AXA IM Alts appointed Lu Gao as head of client group alts Asia earlier this year.
Gao was appointed to the role in August, with the official announcement made earlier this week. Gao replaces Sandra Lee, who joined in January and left in the middle of the year, the investment manager told AsianInvestor. Gao will work across all business lines to oversee the raising of new capital in Asia, expanding the third-party client base and maintaining client relationships.
Based in Singapore, Gao will report directly to Florence Dard, global head of client group alts.
This appointment forms part of AXA IM Alts' recent structuring of the business into five dedicated lines of real estate, infrastructure, alternative credit, natural capital and impact investments and Chorus, covering hedge funds.