January got off to a relatively quiet start for executive moves in the Asian private banking market - although this was probably just as well, given the macroeconomic turmoil of that month to keep bankers busy.

Fairview Equity Partners, a partner of NAB Asset Management, appointed Leo Barry as senior investment manager. Previously, Barry was a small- and mid-cap broker and member of the institutional equity team for Merrill Lynch. He has worked in the financial market sector for around eight years.

ANZ appointed Carole Berndt, formerly global head of transaction services for Royal Bank of Scotland in the UK, to a similar role in Hong Kong. Berndt held her UK-based role at RBS since October 2013. Prior to this, she was head of global transaction services for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. An Australian, Berndt has also worked at Citigroup in New York and Hong Kong.

Global risk advisor Willis Group Holdings added to its China leadership team with three internal promotions. Mitchell Ma, chief executive of Willis China since its founding in 2004, assumed the role of chairman. Lincoln Pan, executive director of Willis Hong Kong, took over as chief executive. One of Willis China's founding members, Wise Xu, stepped in as deputy CEO to lead the specialist business units and Beijing operations.

Union Bancaire Privée, the Geneva-headquartered private bank which operates in regions including Asia, created a new company in China to carry out asset management. It is working with a senior Chinese asset management figure, Hong Chen, and seven other people, to form the new Shanghai-based company, called UBP Investment Management (Shanghai). Chen most recently was chief investment officer of HFT Investment Management. He holds the role of CIO at the new business and it is anticipated that more people will be brought in to the business.

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, the law firm working with global financial firms such as banks, appointed a team of three partners and four as counsel to its Greater China practice, based in Hong Kong.

The team is led by partner Michael Liu, who has 30 years of experience advising on a range of corporate transactions in Hong Kong and London. The group includes partners Jane Ng and Stephen Chan, counsel Simon Berry, Olivia Wong, Terris Tang and Eva Tam, and several associates. Liu and his team joined Cadwalader from Latham & Watkins in Hong Kong, where Liu was co-chair of the firm’s Greater China practice and was previously the managing partner of its Hong Kong office.

Standard Chartered Private Bank said Nitin Birla, a banker working in the non-resident Indian space, joined the firm in Hong Kong. Birla had been executive director and team head at Bank of China International in Hong Kong and also had spells with both RBS Coutts and Barclays Wealth (as the wealth arm of Barclays used to be known).

Hong Kong’s financial regulator appointed an executive director in the risk and compliance area, a newly-created post. Grace Lau took up her role at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in early January. She had been a division head responsible for the risk management and compliance function of the Exchange Fund’s investment activities. Lau joined the HKMA as a manager in 1994 and was promoted to the rank of division head in 2000.

Canada-headquartered Manulife, the financial services group which recently named a new Asia head, appointed three senior executives in Hong Kong. Selina Ko took on the new role of chief human resources officer; she joined the firm last year, holding the role of assistance vice president, human resources, Asia. Prior to this, she held a number of HR positions in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Japan at country, regional and group levels.

Sushmita Munshi was appointed AVP, distribution technology and strategic projects. She has extensive experience in digital strategies and user-experience formulation. In her previous positions with several major digital consulting firms, she worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Paul Wong, in the newly created position of AVP, accident and health insurance, individual financial products, is responsible for developing Manulife’s accident and health capabilities. Before joining Manulife, he worked at several major insurance companies with responsibilities spanning operations, marketing and distribution.

BOC Hong Kong announced that its deputy chief executive for personal banking, Yeung Jason Chi Wai, is retiring from the post, and his other roles at the group, at the start of March. The role covers responsibility for private banking. He was replaced by Ann Kung Yeung Yun Chi, who will take up the role on the same date.

Crédit Agricole Private Banking appointed Antoine Candiotti as its new chief executive of the Hong Kong branch, taking the helm from Serge Janowski, who left the role last year. Candiotti reports to Hans Diederen, CEO of Crédit Agricole Private Banking in Asia. He brings an industry track record of almost 30 years, of which 12 were spent as CEO of Crédit Agricole Private Banking entities subsequently in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Americas. The latest move represents a return to a former role. Candiotti, who was CEO for the bank's American operations between 2010 and 2014, was previously CEO in Hong Kong, from 2005 to 2010.

A wealth management head at Citi who joined the firm's private bank in 2006 secured the top job at the US firm's retail division in Asia, taking over a slot left by his predecessor in December. Citi appointed Gonzalo Luchetti as regional retail bank head in Asia. He is based in Hong Kong and is responsible for segments, retail products and sales and distribution. Luchetti continues with his role as the global head of wealth management and insurance for the consumer bank.

Luchetti fills a position created when Roy Gori left to take on the role of president and chief executive of Manulife Asia. Prior to his global role at Citi, Luchetti was responsible for international personal banking, Latin America, leading Citigold Private Client, Citigold International, international personal panking, global executive banking and CitiBusiness.

HSBC said its Hong Kong chief executive Anita Fung left the bank, as it reorganises its operations. Helen Wong became CEO of Greater China; she will begin that role in March. This is a new role that takes in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Wong reports to Peter Wong, CEO of HSBC Asia-Pacific.

Convoy Financial Holdings, the largest independent financial advisor firm in Hong Kong, unveiled a raft of senior management appointments. Rosetta Fongis was named vice chairman. Fong has been working with the firm’s chairman, Quincy Wong, for the past 17 years. Mark Mak was promoted to group chief executive. He reports directly to the board. He joined the group as chief financial officer in 2002. Meanwhile, Christie Chan was appointed as the group's new chief financial officer, reporting to Mak. Chan oversees the finance and accounting functions as well as the group's overall financial operations. Henry Shin, the group's current chief distribution officer, took up the post of acting CEO of Convoy China.

Tokyo-headquartered Nikko Asset Management hired Naoki Kamiyama as chief strategist. In this newly created position, Kamiyama delivers strategic insights and solutions across asset classes to institutional and retail clients. He also sits on Nikko's global investment committee, which puts together an intermediate-term house view on the global economy and asset markets. Kamiyama has 30 years of experience in the securities and asset management industries. In this time he has worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Securities and Merrill Lynch Japan Securities, where he was chief strategist.