HSBC adds eight to Apac equities
HSBC has made eight senior appointments to its Asia Pacific equities team. Dok Chon joins from Goldman Sachs as head of equity sales trading for Korea, based in Seoul, reporting to Chehee Han, head of equities for Korea.
Justin Abbiss joins the bank as a senior equities sales trader, based in Hong Kong. He joins from Credit Suisse where he was a sales trader, and in his new role he will report to Jefferson Saunders, head of sales trading and customised execution services for Asia Pacific.
Kent Chen will become head of equity sales trading for Taiwan, based in Taipei and reporting to Colleen Chang, head of Taiwan sales. He joins from CLSA where he was head of sales trading for Taiwan. Danny Holder will be based in Hong Kong as head of dealing, equities. He will also report to Saunders, and joins HSBC from Oppenheimer Investments where he was a managing director in the execution division.
Aalind Jindal joins the bank from Citi where he was an India specialist in institutional equity sales. His new role is director of US Asian equities sales. He will be based in New York, reporting to Toby McLennan, head of US Asian equities sales.
Simmy Lee joins as a director in corporate access based in Hong Kong, reporting to Alex Lupis, head of corporate access for Asia Pacific. She joins from Mizuho where she was head of Asian equity corporate access. Quentin Limouzi joins from BNP Paribas as a director in customised electronic services for Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong and reporting to Gerado Pablo, head of program and electronic trading.
Finally, Fiona Wong joins from Nomura as a director in equity sales for Hong Kong and China, based in Hong Kong and reporting to Brad Schwartz, head of equity sales, Hong Kong.
Maybank’s CEO resigns
Tengku Dato’ Zafrul Aziz has resigned from his position as chief executive officer at Maybank, after three years.
John Chong, deputy CEO of Maybank investment bank (IB) and head of investment banking and advisory for its Malaysia operations will take on the role of interim officer in charge of Maybank IB and Maybank Kim Eng.
Barclays takes on equity sales banker
Ester Li has joined Barclays as managing director, head of generalist equities sales for Asia ex-Japan. She joins from Daiwa Capital Markets, where she had been regional head of equity sales since 2010.
She has worked in the Asian equities markets for over 20 years, having also worked at Deutsche Bank, ING Barings and WI Carr. She replaces Anthony Davies, who now leads Barclays’ senior relationship management team in Asia Pacific, alongside Deborah Ho.
Li will be based in Hong Kong and will report to Robin Newman, head of equities distribution for Asia ex-Japan and head of global emerging markets equities distribution.
In addition to Li, Barclays has named two managing directors – Paul Louie as head of property for Asia ex-Japan equity research and Tatsuo Toshida as head of auto for Japan equity research.
UBS WM in two Asia senior management moves
UBS Wealth Management has named LH Koh as country team head for a new China country team, reporting to Francis Liu, regional market manager for China.
He moves from his position as head of institutional solutions group (ISG) for Asia Pacific, and will be replaced by Bryan Crawford, who will report to Amy Lo, head of ultra-high-net-worth for Asia Pacific and Gianluca Gera, global head of ISG. Both appointments will be effective from October 1.
Koh joined UBS in 2010 as head of the corporate advisory group for Asia Pacific. Crawford joins the bank from IBD London, according to an internal memo seen by Asiamoney PLUS. He started his investment banking career in 1990 at Goldman Sachs, before working for J.P. Morgan for 18 years. He will initially be based in London in his new role before relocating to Hong Kong later this year.
New VTB Capital financing structuring chief
Jason Fung is joining VTB Capital as head of Asia financing structuring, after working for Credit Suisse for seven years. He will be based in Hong Kong to take on the newly created role. He will report directly to Peter Firmin, head of international private finance structuring, and regionally to Damian Chunilal, chief executive of VTB Capital Asia.
At Credit Suisse, Fung was head of North Asia and emerging markets financing group. Before that he was vice president at Citigroup Global Markets Asia, with a focus on fixed income in China – a position he held from 1999 to 2006.
Tinker to head AXA Framlington Asia
Mark Tinker will relocate from London to Hong Kong to head AXA Framlington Asia, the firm’s fundamental equity arm.
He will also work alongside the distribution teams to further develop the business. He joined the firm in November 2006 and managed the AXA Framlington Global Opportunities Fund from September 2007 to the end of August 2013.
Before this he was global strategist at execution limited and has also worked for Commerzbank as head of equity and debt strategy. Before this he worked for HSBC James Capel as head of UK strategy and for UBS Warbug as head of its pan-European equity strategy team.
Ning to manage China Focus Fund at Fidelity
Jing Ning has been appointed manager of Fidelity Funds – China Focus Fund. She takes over from Martha Wang, who will be leaving the firm on October 31 to take a career break. Wang has been managing the fund since May 2006.
Ning has 14 years investment experience with nine of these in Chinese equities. She joins from BlackRock where she launched and managed a new dedicated China equity fund. Before this she worked for AIG Investments between 1999 and 2007, where she was head of Chinese equities in Shanghai from 2004.
Choon to head distribution for Apac at GAM
Henry Choon will lead the market development activities for GAM in Asia ex-Japan, effective from November 4. He will be based in Hong Kong and will cover the institutional and intermediary markets as well as private clients, reporting to Craig Wallis, group head of distribution and marketing.
He joins from Lazard Asset Management where he led Asia ex-Japan sales and marketing. Before this he worked at Lehman Brothers Investment Management Hong Kong as head of North Asian investment. He has also worked at Citigroup Asset Management as institutional and co-head of retail Asia business, ex-Japan.
Nikko AM poaches Abe from Mizuho
Hideo Abe has joined Nikko Asset Management as executive vice chairman. The role is a new one and he will focus on marketing to institutional and retail investors both in Japan and overseas. He will be based in Tokyo, effective from October 1.
Abe has 36 years experience in the financial services industry and joins from Mizuho Securities, where he was deputy president from 2008 to 2013. Before this he was a board member at Nikko Citigroup, where he was also CEO from 2004 to 2008.
PineBridge hires fixed income portfolio manager
Omar Slim will join PineBridge Investments in Singapore as vice president and portfolio manger within the fixed income team, reporting to Arthur Lau, managing director and head of fixed income for Asia ex-Japan. Slim will head up the Singapore fixed income team as well as helping to manage regional portfolios.
He joins from State Street Global Advisors in Singapore, where he was senior portfolio manager for Asian fixed income. Before this he worked for the firm in Canada and has also worked for BNP Paribas in the corporate and investment banking team.
Fung to head funds distribution at Principal
Jane Fung has been appointed director and head of funds distribution for Asia at Principal Global Investors, effective October 3. She will be based in Hong Kong and report to Kirk West, executive director of international investments and Andrea Muller, chief executive Asia.
Fung joins from Old Mutual Global Investors, where she was regional sales head of Asia. Before this she worked at Crédit Agricole Asset Management Hong Kong and Baring Asset Management Hong Kong.
New head of institutional wholesale at Standard Life
Standard Life Investments has named Virginia Devereux Wong as head of institutional wholesale in Asia. The role is a new one and she will focus on developing the firm’s private banking and wholesale distribution businesses in Asia.
She will be based in Hong Kong, reporting to David Peng, head of Asia. She joins from Goldman Sachs Asset Management. She will join Xiaosong Zhang and FeiFei Zhu, who were both appointed in July as investment director and Asia business development manager respectively.
Prior to Standard Life Investments, Xiaosong was head of China structured products business in Bank of America Merrill Lynch since 2006 and FeFei was vice president at Nomura’s investment banking division.