Here WealthBriefingAsia
profiles the movers and shakers of the Asian wealth management industry during
April 2012.

Australia and New
Zealand Bank cut 230 positions from its underperforming wealth management unit
as part of the 1,000 planned job cuts announced in February to reduce operating
costs, the bank confirmed. The bank said it would try to find other jobs for
the company for as many of the now-unemployed people.

HSBC named Stuart Milne as the new chief executive for its India
business. Milne replaces Stuart Davis, who moves to another position within the
firm. He was previously the country manager for Japan. In this new role, he
works closely with Naina Lal Kidwai, director at HSBC Asia-Pacific and country
head of the bank in India.

ABN AMRO, the Dutch Lender, hired Daniel
Teo as country chief operating officer for Singapore and COO of private banking
for Asia. Teo was previously regional COO and managing director at Bank of
Singapore.

Acadian Asset
Management Australia named Andrew Hair as new chief executive, from his previous role as the acting
chief for the firm. He replaced Chris Clayton who
left in March to become head of asset management sales. Hair joined Acadian in
2007.

Macquarie Private
Wealth promoted one of its senior vice president and portfolio manager,
Mike Philbrick, as branch manager for a new office in Toronto, ON. He will
lead a team of advisors as the firm makes further hires there.

Franklin Templeton
Investments named Stuart Devlin as southern regional manager of the retail
division. Previously he was head of retail sales
for ING investment management and also served as state manager for AXA
Australia.

Australian fund
manager Hyperion Asset Management promoted Tim Samway as managing director replacing
Dr Emmanuel Pohl, the founder of Hyperion. Pohl has left the asset management
unit to focus on the newly spun-off private equity business. Samway is the institutional business director and founding shareholder
of Hyperion.

Multiport’s managing
director and founder John McIlroy is leaving the business in June and will be
replaced by Libby Roy, previously the head of financial planning at ipac, the
wealth management unit of AMP.

Mirae Asset Global
Investments appointed Jung Ho Rhee as a chief executive for Hong Kong,
replacing Woong Park, who resigned for personal reasons. Rhee was previously a
senior executive director at Mirae Asset.

Australia and New
Zealand Bank hired Richard Yetsenga as head of global markets research, while
Li-Gang Liu became chief economist, China. Yetsenga was previously the head of
foreign exchange research and will be based in Sydney, where he will oversee
all of the firm's research unit, including FX, rates and commodities teams. Liu used to be head of Greater China economics and is now responsible
for developing the Greater China economics team, covering China, Taiwan and
Hong Kong.

JP Morgan
announced its global investment banking chief Jeff Urwin will take on the
additional role as chief of Asia-Pacific, and relocate to Hong Kong. He is
currently head of global investment banking coverage, capital markets and
mergers & acquisitions.

Fangda Partners is
opening an office in Hong Kong and hired Peter Yuen to lead it. He moves from
UK firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer where he served as Hong Kong-based
partner since 2007.

Isle of Man-based ILS Group hired Cindy
Cheng and Ruth Guo as office representatives for Shanghai and Beijing, assisting
Noe Benziane, the director of ILS Fiduciaries (Asia), in delivering ILS
products and services to professional and high net worth clients.

Executive search firm Korn/Ferry International named Navnit Singh as chairman and country head
of India in 3 May, also functioning as global technology market leader for the
unit. He joined from rival Heidrich & Struggles.

Liechtenstein-based
VP Bank appointed Reto Isenring in the newly created role of chief operating
officer and deputy chief executive. He was previously interim
CEO of the bank's Singapore branch, pending the appointment of Ian Pollock, who now officially takes over as CEO of VP Bank Singapore, in addition to his leadership role in Hong Kong. Pollock has headed VP Bank Group's activities in
the Asia-Pacific region since 1 January 2012.

Singapore-based hedge fund Dymon Asia Capital hired Jay Luo
as president and partner. He starts in June and will oversee risk management
and operations from the Hong Kong office. Luo was previously the head of SAC
Capital Advisors in Asia-Pacific.

The third and final member of
management consultant Mercer’s Singapore-based wealth management team, Iris
Kao, left last month for a private bank. Kao was principal consultant on the
team, reporting to Hansi Mehrotra, Asia-Pacific head of wealth management
consulting, who left in December.

Nomura named Nobuhiro Sano as head of
wealth management for Singapore, replacing Tsukasa Miyachi, who resurfaced last
month at Barclays. Sano was transferred from Shanghai, where he was chief
representative of the bank’s Shanghai office. He reports to Koki Miura, head of Asia-ex Japan for the division.

Credit Suisse added Chew Soon Gek as
head of strategy and economic research in the private bank, Asia-Pacific, based
in Singapore. She joined from the recently-merged
Clariden Leu, where she was the head of portfolio management and investment
strategy Asia from 2009. Kum Soek Ching also rejoined Credit
Suisse as head of Southeast Asia equity research, based in Singapore, reporting
to Chew, after a year's absence. 

The head of Southeast Asia for Coutts,
former UBS-banker Manfred Liechti, left after two years, to be replaced by the
bank’s global non-resident India head Ranjit Khanna, effective immediately. Based in Singapore, Khanna will lead teams of
private bankers responsible for high net worth clients in Singapore and
Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile the UK private bank said it
was looking to bolster its products and services business in Asia by hiring 10
senior bankers within the next few months. It also is looking to grow its Asia
philanthropy and family office business division.

Tyndall Asset Management, the Australian
advisor owned by Japan’s Nikko Asset Management, named Mike Davis as the new
managing director. Davis takes over from Craig Hobart, who resigned. He joined
from Causeway Asset Management, an alternative asset management firm he
co-founded in 2004, and now reports to Charles Beazely, chief executive of
Nikko AM.

CIMB Group Holdings, the Malaysian
financial group, appointed Renzo Christopher Viegas as the new group deputy
chief executive and head of consumer banking for CIMB Bank, the firm's banking
subsidiary. Viegas was previously the deputy CEO for retail and international
at RHB Bank. He also assumes the position of executive director of CIMB Bank.

Sarasin hired Timon Tam to the newly-created
role of head of investment consulting for the North Asia business. Tam brings
25 years of private banking experience to the role and reports to Damien Ng,
head of investment consulting, Asia.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners named
David Grybas the new chief executive for Australia. Grybas replaced Robert
Harrison, who moved to New York to become head of the North American business.
He was previously the co-head of institutional business development.

Boyden, the recruiter, appointed Peter
Dale as executive director for its expanding Australian franchise. In this
role, Dale takes the responsibility of recruiting for senior executive and
functional leader roles for financial services, professional services and
non-profit institutions in Australia and internationally.

The Government of Singapore Investment
Corp appointed Lim Chow Kiat as deputy chief investment officer, in addition to
his role as president of GIC Asset Management. In this expanded position, he
assists Ng Kok Song, GIC CIO, in building group investment policies and
strategies. 

MLC, the wealth arm of National
Australia Bank, chose Delaware Investments as its new sub-advisor to help
manage the around $1 billion worth of equities in its portfolio. Delaware, led
by Jeffrey Van Harte, replaces Capital International.

The Bennelong Group, the Australian
investment and fund management firm, named Michaet Pratt as non-executive
director for the board and director of the Bennelong Foundation. Pratt joined
from Standard Chartered Bank where he was head of consumer and small and medium
businesses banking for Northeast Asia. 

Bank of America Merrill Lynch asked
around 32 employees at its wealth management unit in India to leave as the
stock market slowdown worsened and the economy continued to be sluggish. The
affected employees included some advisors and support staff.

Fullerton Securities & Wealth
Advisory appointed Rajnish Kumar as chief executive for India. Kumar used to be
the head of the firm's wealth management business and growth strategy for
India. He joined the company in 2008 as founder member.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management hired
Akshay Jaitly as head of non resident Indians for North Asia. Jaitly was
previously the global head of private banking at Axis Bank and joined the
French bank in late March 2012. He reports to Stephanie Honig, head of Indian
markets. 

BNY Mellon named Chong Jin Leow country
executive and general manager of the Singapore office. Leow succeeded Jai Aya,
who now focuses on his role as head of the global sovereign institutions group.
Leow, previously the head of Asia-Pacific asset servicing, continues to report
to Tim Kearney, vice chairman of BNY Mellon and chief executive of BNY Mellon
Asset Servicing. He now also reports to Steve Lackey, chairman of Asia-Pacific.

Macquarie Investment Management
Australia made four Europe-based hires, taking the headcount in the region to
14. Jerry Devlin joined as head of UK financial institutions, Richard Guerin as
head of European consultants relations, Xavier Michel as manager of pooled
funds, and Kate Giblin as manager in the sales and marketing support team. The
firm said the appointments reflect the firm’s growth in Europe.

Former Standard Chartered global head of
financial markets sales David Carr joined Australian and New Zealand Banking
Group to fill the newly-created role of global head of sales, based in
Singapore. He reports to Steve Bellotti, managing director for global
markets. 

Merlon Capital Partners, the Australian
boutique fund management firm, announced plans to add a new portfolio manager
effective June. The role will be filled by Adrian Lemme, who moves from AMP
Capital. With this hire, Merlon Capital effectively brings its total Australian
equities fund management team to seven.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati,
the US-based law firm, appointed Zhan Chen as partner based in Shanghai. Chen
will be dividing her time between the Shanghai and Hong Kong offices, focusing
on private equity, going-private transactions and M&A. She joined from
Davis Polk & Wardwell where she worked for 10 years. 

Australian investment manager AMP
announced the departure of John McIlroy, the founder and managing director of
subsidiary Multiport to "pursue other opportunities." Libby Roy,
previously head of financial planning at ipac, another AMP division, took over
the role.

Squire Sanders, the Ohio law firm,
expanded its Asian franchise with a new Singapore office. The local team is led
by Ignatius Hwang, along with three lawyers. The firm opened a similar office
in Hong Kong in February and said it is mulling the launch of a Korea branch in
the next months. 

Equity Trustees, the Victoria-based
wealth manager, named Anna Hacker to the newly-created role of senior manager -
estate planning. Hacker joined from Moores Legal where she was provided legal
advice to accounts and financial planners. At her new post, she reports to
Lachlan Wraith, head of personal estates and trusts. 

Mirae Asset Global Investments announced
Jisang Yoo as its new chief executive for India. Yoo replaced Arindam Gosh. She
was was previously the chief financial officer for the firm. 

Coutts hired three executives for its
Asia business. Edouard Hoepffner joined as executive director and head of new
product development and client solutions, Elaine Ngim stepped in as director
and head of fixed income, while Kieran Calder became director and head of
equities. All three are based in Singapore. Hoepffner now reports to Ranjit
Khanna, interim head of products and services for Asia, while Ngim and Calder
both report to Coutts’ chief investment officer for Asia, Norman Villamin.