Here is the monthly roundup of senior wealth management moves in the Asian wealth management sector, and it was a busy one, with high-profile changes at firms such as Julius Baer, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas and Vanguard.

Asia-Pacific moves in November 2019

State Street, the US financial services group, appointed Cara Brosnan as head of sector solutions for Australia and Southeast Asia. The role is newly created. Based in Sydney, she reports to Jason Rich, head of sector solutions, Asia-Pacific. Brosnan has more than 17 years of experience in sales and business development within the banking and financial services sector. Prior to joining State Street, she served as the regional head of Insurance Sector Sales for HSBC Securities Services in Asia-Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, she was responsible for leading HSBC’s custody and fund administration growth in the insurance sector across Asia. Before moving to Hong Kong, she was the sales director at HSBC Securities Services in Australia and Europe.

Old Mutual International, part of Quilter, hired two new directors in Singapore to serve rapid growth in high net worth clients in the region: Claire Tan and Christabel Fernandez. Tan joined from the private banking sector where she spent time as a portfolio counsellor and relationship manager. Prior roles included multi-family office and asset management remits in the independent wealth sector. Fernandez was previously an institutional broker specialising in the ultra-high net worth insurance space advising private bankers and their clients. Her experience also includes relationship management covering the high net worth South East Asia segment at multinational banks.

HSBC Private Banking appointed Jackie Mau to the new role of regional head of ultra-high net worth, Asia-Pacific. Mau, based in Hong Kong, is responsible for leading growth of the UHNW business in Asia and reports to Siew Meng Tan, regional head of HSBC Private Banking, Asia-Pacific. 

Mau joined HSBC in 2003 and has been in a number of senior client-facing roles across investment banking and private banking in Hong Kong and Thailand. Most recently, he was co-head of investment services and product solutions, Asia-Pacific for HSBC Private Banking. Prior to that, he was regional head of investment counselling, Asia-Pacific.  

Following 18 months as co-head with Jackie Mau, Abdel Ben Tkhayet was appointed head of ISPS, Asia-Pacific. Abdel Ben Tkhayet took sole responsibility for leading the products and investment counsellor teams in the region. He joined HSBC in 1997 and has over 20 years’ international banking experience having worked in France, the UAE, the UK and Hong Kong. 

Finantix, the wealth management tech firm, opened a new office in Sydney, Australia. The office is run by Martin McCabe, who joined as sales country manager for Australia and Todd Yarrow, senior business development executive for Australia. McCabe has over 20 years of experience in financial technology sales, starting his career at Lloyds of London, before moving to Australia 16 years ago. Since his move, he has worked with IBM servicing the big four banks, he was a client director at DST and most recently was with FIS where he was responsible for significantly growing the policy admin/wealth platform business across Asia-Pacific.  

Intertrust Group, the corporate and fund solutions group, appointed Michael Moncarz in a newly-created role as managing director, operations for Asia-Pacific. Moncartz previously worked as chief operating officer in the Singapore branch of Geneva-based Union Bancaire Privée, and before that, managing director, head of financing and fixed income, forex operations in Asia-Pacific for Natixis.

Westpac’s chief executive, Brian Hartzer, resigned following regulatory claims of major anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing failures. Peter King, chief financial officer, replaced him temporarily. The chief operating officer, Gary Thursby, is acting as CFO. Long-standing director, Ewen Crouch decided that he would not not seek re-election at the upcoming Westpac AGM. Maxsted also confirmed that he would bring forward his retirement as chairman to the first half of 2020.

Offshore law firm Carey Olsen recruited associate Amelia Tan to join its Singapore litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice. The team was launched with the lateral partner hire of James Noble, a specialist in complex and high value shareholder litigation, asset recovery, cross-border enforcement and insolvency. Tan, who is a British Virgin Islands qualified lawyer, previously worked at another offshore law firm in Singapore and has a broad commercial practice with a focus on corporate disputes, shareholder related litigation and insolvency and restructuring matters.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management appointed Arnaud Tellier, who has been at the firm for almost three decades, as the chief executive of its business in Asia-Pacific. The appointment came when the co-CEO structure at the firm concluded, with the resignation of Andy Chai, recently appointed to the post. Tellier, who had been co-CEO for Asia-Pacific with Chai, took on the CEO role and is based in Hong Kong. Tellier continues to oversee the strategic direction and operations of the franchise in Greater China, Southeast Asia and India. In terms of his reporting lines, Tellier reports hierarchically to co-CEO of BNP Paribas Wealth Management, Vincent Lecomte, and functionally to CEO Asia Pacific of BNP Paribas Group, Eric Raynaud.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, made several "senior strategic hires" in its global South Asia (GSA) team, including a new managing director in Mumbai and another in Dubai in the past month. It also completed a lateral move for an MD in Singapore.

In October, Achal Aroura joined as an MD0 and group head based in Dubai. Aroura has worked in the financial industry for over 20 years, working primarily in the UAE and India. He was previously a senior client advisor and group head Middle East and Africa for the non-resident Indian business at Julius Baer. In his new role, Aroura reports to Amrit Singh, head of wealth management for GSA.

For onshore India, the firm hired Mayank Khemka as head of discretionary portfolio management and chief investment officer for wealth management in India. Based in Mumbai, Khemka reports to Atinkumar Saha, head of WM India, and Christian Nolting, global head of DPM and WM CIO. He has over 25 years of experience in Indian capital markets, having joined from Credit Suisse where he spent nine years as head of investment management, India, managing discretionary portfolios across asset classes.

The bank also appointed Akshay Prasad as head of investment management for GSA, moving from his original role as head of capital markets for emerging markets. Still based in Singapore, Prasad reports to Amrit Singh and Bobby Abraham, regional head of institutional wealth partners (IWP) in emerging markets.

EFG in Singapore added a total of eight people to its team. Brandon Wong joined as a senior investment counsellor. He has 13 years of banking experience, including nine years as an investment counsellor at BNP Paribas Wealth Management. Wong reports to Ashish Dikshit, head of investment counselling.

Grace Wong, senior vice president, joined its Greater China team as a client relationship officer. She reports to Kimmis Pun, team head for Greater China. She has more than 20 years of industry experience, including nine years in private banking. She was previously director of the Taiwan Team at BNP Wealth Management. 

Whilton Leo was named as a CRO with the rank of managing director. He brought with him more than 20 years of wealth management experience, including a decade in private banking. He previously served as a senior director for client advisory at Bank J Safra Sarasin. Leo reports to Jennie Hananto, head of the Southeast Asia team focusing on the Indonesia market.

Neuberger Berman, the US investment house, assembled its Japan-based equities team. It is led by Keita Kubota, who joined as a managing director and senior portfolio manager. Kubota joined from Aberdeen Standard Investments, where he started his career over 13 years ago, most recently serving as deputy head of Japan equities. He was the investment director of Aberdeen Standard Investments’ Japan large cap strategy and small cap strategy, both of which were managed with an engagement strategy and offered to large institutional clients across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Two analysts, one of whom will specialise in ESG investing, support Kubota. The other, Naoto Saito, joined Neuberger Berman in September as a senior research analyst and has a generalist focus. Saito previously served in research roles and covered a broad range of companies across the Japanese equity market at Balyasny Asset Management, CLSA Securities and T Rowe Price.

Julius Baer's foray into Thailand's wealth management market via a joint venture with Siam Commercial Bank was jolted in November. Jiralawan Tangitvet, the JV's chief executive, resigned after being in post for seven months. The CEO had joined SCB-Julius Baer, as the JV was called, in April and had previously worked at Kasikorn Securities as a managing director.

Credit Suisse's private bank in Australia made a number of hires. Jasmin Argyrou joined as a director and portfolio manager in the discretionary portfolio management team. Argyrou has a background in debt markets, and was most recently investment director in fixed income at Aberdeen Standard Investments. Prior to that, she held senior portfolio management positions with BNP Paribas, Schroders Investment Management and UBS Global Asset Management. 

Jude McDonnell joined the funds advisory team in Melbourne, Australia as vice president. McDonnell has more than 10 years’ experience in managed funds research and consulting in the Australian market, most recently at Lonsec as head of fixed income and multi-asset.

In its relationship management area, the private bank has appointed two vice presidents working in Sydney and Melbourne: Rohan Serrao joined Credit Suisse in Melbourne from JBWere, where he was a senior member of the investment strategy and markets team dealing with private wealth clients; David Jones-Pritchard was most recently at HSBC Private Bank in Sydney, where he was managing family groups in the ultra-HNW space. He has had over 20 years’ experience in financial products and derivatives prior to joining Private Banking. 

Vanguard Group, the US-based investment giant, appointed Yan Pu as managing director, head of investment management group, China. Axel Lomholt was also appointed as managing director, head of portfolio review, Asia. Yan Pu joined Vanguard in 2004. Prior to her new role, she was head of Portfolio Review, Asia, at Vanguard Investments Hong Kong, where she oversaw product management and development, as well as capital markets.

Julius Baer appointed Jason Moo, who is based in Singapore, as the new head of private banking for Southeast Asia. He took over from Torsten Linke. Linke, who took on the newly-created role of head of “global India and developed markets", is also based in Singapore. The territory, which covers onshore India, the Indian sub-continent and NRI clients, Japan and Asia business, will be managed from Switzerland. Both men report to Jimmy Lee, head of Asia-Pacific and a member of the executive board. 

Investec Asset Management appointed John Cappetta as head of private banking, Asia advisor. Cappetta is based in Singapore with responsibility for managing and driving the IAM’s private bank distribution business across Asia. With 28 years in financial services, Cappetta joined from Julius Baer where he was the head of funds advisory for Asia, based in Singapore. Previously, he had various senior roles at Merrill Lynch, George Van & Company and Safra Asset Management in the US, Singapore and Australia.

Fund administrator Trident Trust bulked up its Asia funds team with new personnel in Hong Kong and Singapore to serve clients in North Asia and South East Asia to cope with rising demand. Alternatives investment veteran Tony Kan leads the group’s fund services business in China and North Asia, and a team of administrators, led by Jonathan Chan, was added in Singapore, under the leadership of Tony Carr. New fund services, client liaison and onboarding services were also added in Hong Kong, dedicated to serving Hong Kong and mainland China managers.

Sun Life Hong Kong, the life insurer that provides wealth management services among its offerings, appointed Rainbow Pan as general manager, wealth and pensions. Pan replaced Belinda Luk, who retired but remained as a special advisor for the firm. Luk worked at Sun Life for more than 11 years, driving the company’s Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes and Group Life and Health business.