Weekly roundup of people news, Oct 18
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AUSTRALIAN SUPER EXPANDS US TEAM
AustralianSuper has expanded its investment team in the Americas, with Mikaël Limpalaër appointed as head of Americas based in New York.
Limpalaër has been with the super fund since 2020 and previously led its European private credit team in London,
Nick Ward, current head of private credit, will relocate to New York to oversee the fund's A$6 billion ($4.02 billion) private credit portfolio.
Maria Reed joins as head of fund services, Americas, after nearly a decade as a managing director at BlackRock.
The expansion also includes the appointments of Damien Mitchell and Andrew Osborne as senior investment directors in real assets, and Matthew Choi as senior investment director in private credit.
Mitchell comes from CIM, while Osborne joins from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
Choi, who will lead real estate debt investment activities, arrives from Granite Point Mortgage Trust.
This move aims to strengthen AustralianSuper's presence in North America, where it has about 30% of member assets invested.
It plans to increase the New York team to over 120 professionals by 2026.
REST CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER RESIGNS
Andrew Lill, chief investment officer of Rest, one of Australia's largest superannuation funds, has stepped down.
Lill, who joined Rest in 2020 as its first CIO, will be leaving the organisation in November after nearly five years.
He plans to spend time with family before taking on his next professional role.
He was previously at Morningstar from 2014 until 2020, first as CIO for the Asia Pacific region and then as CIO for the Americas.
He was also the head of investment specialists and head of investment solutions at AMP Capital, and director of investment strategy at Russell Investments.
Rest has begun a comprehensive search process to appoint a new chief investment officer, with his duties to be absorbed by the broader investments team in the meantime.
BII NAMES NEW CEO
British International Investment selected Leslie Maasdorp as the new chief executive of the UK’s development finance institution.
Maasdorp will succeed Nick O’Donohoe, who is retiring after more than seven years in the role.
Maasdorp was most recently vice president and chief financial officer of New Development Bank, the multilateral development bank based in Shanghai, China.
The selection follows an extensive global search led by BII’s Board.
BII invests about £1 billion ($1.31 billion) a year in markets across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
It is the UK government’s primary vehicle for delivering climate finance in emerging markets and has investments in nearly 1,600 companies across 65 countries.
AsianInvestor was unable to ascertain who succeeds Maasdorp at New Development Bank.
NATIXIS IM SINGAPORE APPOINTS FIXED INCOME HEAD
Natixis Investment Managers (Natixis IM) Singapore named Budi Suharto as head of fixed income for Singapore, as part of the firm’s diversification and development strategy in Asia.
He will be based in Singapore, reporting to Dora Seow, CEO, Natixis IM Singapore.
Suharto will lead the fixed income and credit research team based in Singapore on behalf of Ostrum Asset Management, which is an investment manager under Natixis IM.
Before joining Natixis IM, he was executive director, emerging markets corporate debt portfolio manager and research analyst at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
Prior to that, he was at Deutsche Bank AG in Hong Kong, London, and Singapore.
ABRDN NAMES HEAD OF JAPAN REAL ESTATE
Investment firm abrdn Japan appointed Harumi Kadono as head of Japan real estate.
She is based in Tokyo and reports to Marc Pamin, CEO of living at abrdn.
The appointment is part of abrdn’s efforts to expand its real estate investment business in Japan through its subsidiary, abrdn Japan.
The asset manager recently won a new investment mandate from Dutch pension investor PGGM to manage a residential portfolio in Japan.
Kadono was previously with Atlas Partners starting in 2009, a predecessor firm which subsequently merged into IDERA Capital Management, where she was head of fund management.
She also worked at GIC Real Estate and GE Real Estate.
MSCI NAMES NEW HEAD OF APAC CLIENT COVERAGE
MSCI appointed Shane Edwards as head of APAC client coverage, effective October 3.
Edwards will report to Axel Kilian, chief client officer.
He succeeds Kazuya Nagasawa who is leaving the firm to pursue new opportunities.
Edwards, previously MSCI’s head of Australia and New Zealand client coverage, will continue in this role in an interim capacity. He continues to be based in Sydney, Australia.
Edwards, who joined MSCI in February, has previously worked with UBS, Deutsche Bank and Macquarie Bank among others.
SFC WELCOMES NEW CHAIRMAN
The Hong Kong government appointed Kelvin Wong Tin-yau as chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for a term of three years starting October 20.
He succeeds Tim Lui, who will step down on October 19, after having chaired the SFC for six years.
Wong is currently chairman of the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) until December 31.
AFRC is Hong Kong’s independent regulator for the accounting profession.
Before the appointment, he was an executive director and a deputy managing director of listed company COSCO Shipping Ports in Hong Kong.
Outgoing chairman Lui was appointed as SFC’s chairman in October 2018.
Lui has been active in public and community service. Currently, he is chairman of the University Grants Committee.
IFM INVESTORS COO RESIGNS
IFM Investors' Chief Operating Officer Lounarda David has left the pension-owned infrastructure and private equity specialist after six years.
David, who plans to take a break before deciding her next move, was instrumental in transforming IFM's operating platform and contributing to its growth strategy.
Amy Diab, IFM's head of global investment operations, will serve as acting COO while the firm recruits a successor.
Before joining IFM, David was chief investment operations officer at Sunsuper.
AMUNDI HIRES SENIOR INVESTMENT STRATEGIST IN HK
Amundi appointed Aidan Yao in Hong Kong as senior investment strategist, Asia within Amundi’s research arm, the Amundi Investment Institute.
The newly created role will further strengthen Amundi’s investment capabilities in Asia, a region in which it is steadily reinforcing its expertise.
Yao functionally reports to Claudia Bertino, head of investment insights and publishing, Amundi Investment Institute, and locally reports to Florian Neto, head of multi-asset investment, Asia, the firm told AsianInvestor.
Prior to joining Amundi in October 2024, Yao was chief economist, global macro, investment strategy and asset allocation research at Long Shine Asset Management in Hong Kong.
Before that, he spent 10 years at AXA Investment Managers serving as senior emerging Asia economist of global macro research.
He also held senior roles at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
FWD GROUP HIRES CHIEF STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
FWD Group Holdings appointed Peter Reynolds to the newly-created role of group chief strategic development officer, effective November 1.
Reynolds joins from management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, where he was partner and head of industries for Asia Pacific and previously head of Greater China.
Reynolds will join the FWD Group executive committee and will report to Group CEO Huynh Thanh Phong.
At the time of publication, Oliver Wyman did not respond to a query on who succeeds Reynolds in his former role at the management consultancy.