The first month of the year proved a busy one with a host of high-level moves and departures in the Asian wealth management industry.

HSBC Private Bank created a new team structure for the Indonesia market, forming two groups led by market heads Ingrid Widjaja and Lim Chee Kong.

The market heads are responsible for new business development and executing its strategy in the Indonesia market. They both report to Sandeep Sharma, head of global private banking, South East Asia. Widjaja manages the existing team, while Chee Kong heads the newly created team. Widjaja was promoted to market head for Indonesia in November 2016, having been with HSBC private bank for almost 18 years. As for Chee Kong, prior to joining HSBC, he was country team head, Indonesia at UBS Wealth Management, Singapore. 

Separately, David Ng and Chay Hong Leng were appointed as desk heads for Indonesia. Both of them report to Widjaja and Chee Kong respectively. Ng was previously head of ultra-high net worth investment counselling for Southeast Asia at HSBC Private Bank before taking on the new role as desk head for Indonesia. Hong Leng joined from UBS Wealth Management, Singapore, where his last held position was desk head, Indonesia and Jakarta representative office.

Indosuez Wealth Management appointed one of its veteran figures, Pierre Masclet, as chief executive for wealth management activities in Asia and as branch manager for Singapore. The organisation also appointed Sen Sui as commercial head for Asia. Masclet works with Antoine Candiotti, CEO in Hong Kong, and Sui. Based in Singapore, Sui is responsible for driving and coordinating Indosuez Wealth Management’s activities in Asia, partnering with team leaders in Hong Kong and Singapore, who reports directly to him. 

A prominent figure in Asia’s burgeoning independent asset management sector, Jessica Cutrera, founded a new business in Hong Kong, called The Capital Company. Previously, Cutrera was managing director of EXS Capital Asia, a role she held from April 2008 to December 2016. Prior to her role in Asia, she worked as a registered representative for Charles Schwab, the US brokerage and investments firm.

Credit Suisse appointed Benjamin Cavalli as chief executive for Singapore, adding to his existing role as head of Southeast Asia and head of Singapore location for private banking. Cavalli reports to Francesco de Ferrari, head of private banking for Asia-Pacific and CEO of Southeast Asia. Cavalli took over from Lito Camacho, who remained in his role as vice chairman for Asia-Pacific. With Credit Suisse since 2009, Cavalli has over 20 years’ experience in both wealth management and investment banking across Asia and Switzerland, 15 of which were in senior management roles based in Singapore.

Tan Kuan Ern, head of Singapore coverage, investment banking and capital markets (IBCM), was appointed to the additional role as deputy Singapore CEO. He took over this role from Edwin Low who remained as co-head of IBCM, Asia-Pacific. 

Jacky Ang was appointed as branch manager for Credit Suisse Singapore branch and senior corporate officer for Credit Suisse (Singapore) Limited, in addition to his role as chief operating officer, Singapore. He took over these two roles from Chien Chien Wong who was recently appointed COO, Asia-Pacific. Ang has been with Credit Suisse for 19 years and has been COO Singapore since 2015, as well as the Singapore deputy branch manager and deputy senior corporate officer since 2012.

Deutsche Bank appointed Philippe Vollot as global head of anti-financial crime and group money laundering reporting officer, just days after the previous head, Peter Hazlewood, left the position after just six months. Vollot has been with the bank for more than 13 years and most recently held the position of global chief operating officer for regulation, compliance and anti-financial crime. He held various positions within the compliance, anti-money laundering, legal and regional management fields. Aside from his roles within the private sector, Vollot worked for the French Financial Markets Authority. In his new role, he reports to Sylvie Matherat, chief regulatory officer.

Vincent Ming, a director at Credit Suisse in Singapore, joined United Overseas Bank as market head for north Asia. Ming worked at Credit Suisse since January 2007. His most recent job title there was director, private banking, Greater China market.

Savills Investment Management appointed Volker Wanka as director of fund management in Singapore. Wanka joined with more than 12 years’ experience in real estate investment management and fund management in Europe and Asia. Most recently, he was director of fund management for Savills Investment Management Frankfurt, where he managed two of the firm’s Asian property funds.

Gerson Lehrman Group hired Stephen Bosshart of Standard Chartered Bank, and Eddie Kong of Babylon Education, into two newly-created roles for its Asia-Pacific leadership team. Bosshart joined GLG as managing director and head of China, and will be based in Shanghai. Kong joined as managing director and head of operations, and will be based in Hong Kong. Bosshart was previously managing director at Standard Chartered Bank, overseeing commercial banking in Eastern China. Kong began his career at Cathay Pacific Airways, followed by several years at McKinsey. From 2013 to 2016, he was the head of operations development at The Kowloon Motor Bus Company. He was then chief operating officer at Babylon Education, where he managed and developed new schools in Hong Kong.

Bank J Safra Sarasin appointed Masaki Sugawara as a managing director, client advisory. The role is a newly-formed one. Sugawara has more than 20 years’ experience as a private banker. He began his career in Tokyo in 1994 and moved to Hong Kong in 2002. Sugawara joins the bank from Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, where he was director for the Japan market.

UBS Wealth Management recruited James Gifford, the former founding executive director of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, as its senior impact investing strategist, a new role for UBS. As founding executive director of the UNPRI, Gifford led the organisation from its inception in 2003 until 2013.

Offshore law firm Appleby appointed three lawyers to its dispute resolution team in Mauritius. The appointed lawyers were counsel Yahia Nazroo, who joined on 15 December last year; senior associate Melissa Virahsawmy, who joined on 12 December; and associate Yantee Hurnaurn-Calcutteea, who joined on 7 December. The team in Mauritius acts on cases and legal issues including commercial litigation, fund disputes, trust litigation, insolvencies and restructurings, regulatory matters, professional negligence and insurance disputes.

UBS appointed two former Deutsche and Citigroup senior managers to its wealth team in Asia-Pacific. Ravi Raju was appointed co-head of global ultra-high net worth in Asia-Pacific, and it also named Anurag Mahesh as head of its global family office group in Asia. Amy Lo remains the country head, Hong Kong. August Hatecke (head WM South East Asia) and Lo were previously the co-heads global UHNW Asia Pacific. Lo continued in this role in addition to her role as head of WM Greater China and country head, Hong Kong, while Hatecke fully focuses on his role as head of wealth management South East Asia. Raju is based in Hong Kong, reporting to Josef Stadler, head of global UHNW, and Edmund Koh, head of wealth management, Asia-Pacific. Mahesh, meanwhile, reports to Raju, Lo, and the global head of the global family office, Sara Ferrari.

Vontobel Asset Management, part of Switzerland-listed Vontobel, appointed Suzanna Wong as head of intermediary sales for Asia. Based in Hong Kong, Wong is responsible for managing relationships with intermediary channels in Singapore and Hong Kong. Wong has more than 20 years of experience in business development. She joined from SYZ Asset Management, where she was head of sales Asia.

Barings named Ike Bae, formerly head of sales at Barings Korea, as its Korean chief executive. He succeeded Thae Khwarg, who retired in December 2016 after spending more than 20 years with the company. Bae joined Barings in 2011 as head of sales, in which role he was responsible for the Korean institutional and mutual fund businesses. Prior to that, he worked at asset manager Hanwha Investment & Securities and AllianceBernstein Investment Management in Korea. Wonil Kim, previously head of institutional sales in Korea, replaced Bae as head of sales.

Standard Chartered made senior appointments in Asia to bolster its private banking and wealth management teams in Greater China and North Asia. It appointed Harry Lai, who joined from Barclays, as market head, Greater China and North Asia. The market heads report to Vivian Chan, whose appointment as regional head, private banking for Greater China and North Asia, was announced in July 2016. Chan has more than 30 years of experience in the business sector.

State Street Global Advisors recruited James Ong, previously of HSBC Global Asset Management, as its managing director and head of client relationship management for Southeast Asia. Ong has more than 20 years of sales experience across institutional and intermediary channels. At HSBC, he looked after the Southeast Asian institutional business. He has also held a similar position at UOB Asset Management. He is based in Singapore and reports to June Wong, head of SSGA Asia ex-Japan.

Carey Olsen, the offshore law firm which opened an office in Hong Kong last November, appointed Arigen Liang as a counsel in its Hong Kong dispute resolution and insolvency practice. Liang joined Carey Olsen from another offshore law firm in Hong Kong, Harney Westwood & Riegels. She qualified in Singapore, England and Wales and the British Virgin Islands.

Joseph Tam, a former private banking and wealth management head at Hong Kong-based Wing Lung Bank, took up a new role as general manager, private banking, at Industrial Bank Co. He held his previous role from May 2014 to December last year. Tam also held roles at Credit Suisse and HSBC Private Bank.

International real estate services firm DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield appointed Christopher Browne as managing director of global occupier services for the Asia-Pacific region, based in Singapore. The previous occupant of the role was Sanjay Verma.

International law firm Simmons & Simmons moved its London-based litigation and regulatory partner, Marc Thorley, to its Hong Kong office. Thorley has been a partner in the Simmons & Simmons London office since 2008.
 

NAB Asset Management, part of National Australia Bank, named Brian Long as its new head of retirement. Prior to joining NAB, Long held roles including head of wealth management for the Pacific region at Mercer Australia and head of distribution at van Eyk Research. His most recent role was national manager for retirement at Colonial First State.

Savills Investment Management, the international real estate investment manager, appointed Lee Tredwell as head of investment for Savills IM in Australia, part of plans by the firm to increase activity in the country. The role was newly-created. Tredwell has 15 years of experience in handling various transaction and investment activities in the commercial real estate space, including acquisitions, underwriting and financing through to active asset management, redevelopment and disposals.

ZEDRA recruited Yuan Yuan Woo and Nithya Camoens as executive director and director, respectively, within its Singapore office. Woo began her career in tax services for PricewaterhouseCoopers, before moving to a number of private banks including Citibank, DBS and UBS, where she advised private clients on succession and estate planning matters. Prior to ZEDRA, Camoens was at PwC Singapore for five years, where she was responsible for managing the company's secretarial practice.

Fidelity International appointed Jackson Lee as country head of China. Lee has worked in China for over six years and has over 12 years' asset management experience. He joined Fidelity in 2010, and his most recent role was Beijing chief representative. In his new role, he is based in Shanghai. Lee reports to Daisy Ho, managing director of Asia ex-Japan.

AXA Investment Managers appointed Yoshihiko Hayafuji as head of Japan for its real assets division. He has more than 15 years' experience in the Japanese real estate and corporate finance sectors and worked at Aetos Japan on its valuation team, where he oversaw real estate valuation for the fund's acquisitions. He began his career in financial services with Nomura Real Estate.

Robeco, which is opening a new office in Singapore, appointed Graham Elliot as head of distribution for the Asia-Pacific and Middle East. He is based in Hong Kong. The new role involves a focus on institutional and wholesale distribution in Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) and the Middle East. Elliot is also responsible for the day-to-day management of Robeco Asia Pacific, joining chief investment officer Arnout van Rijn and chief operation officer Jorg Sunderman, who are both based in Hong Kong.

The former chief health and marketing officer for AXA in Hong Kong, Rob Leonardi, was appointed chief executive of Italy-headquartered insurer and financial services group Generali. Leonardi has been at Generali for about a month and is responsible for all Generali insurance activities in Asia.

Manulife Asset Management appointed Michael Reed, formerly of FIL Asset Management (Korea), as chief executive of its Thailand business. Reed most recently served as country head of FIL Asset Management in Korea. Additionally, he has experience in leading international financial services firms across Asia-Pacific, including China, Hong Kong and Australia. As CEO of Manulife Asset Management Thailand, Reed reports to Gianni Fiacco, chief operating officer of wealth and asset management, Asia for Manulife Asset Management. He also reports to Michael Parker, president of Manulife Insurance in Thailand.

HP Wealth Management, based in Singapore, appointed Jose Camacho and Edwin Chan. Camacho is a private markets specialist and Chan is a senior portfolio manager.

Camacho looks at finding investment opportunities in private debt and equity markets. He is the co-founder of Touchstone Ventures, a direct investments advisory firm, established in 2014. He previously worked at UBS Wealth Management, raising money among ultra-high net worth investors. Chan has more than 15 years of experience in the global fixed income markets on both the buy and sell side as well as in trading. He has previously worked as a fixed income investment counsellor at Bank of Singapore, as well as in roles at DBS and UBS.

Bruno Morel was appointed as the new chief executive of VP Bank (Singapore), part of Liechtenstein-headquartered VP Bank, taking the reins from Rajagopal Govindarajoo, formerly managing director of that entity. He was most recently head of private banking for CIC, a role he held from April 2013.

Standard Chartered brought in three top-line private bankers from HSBC. It appointed Teddy Kwong to the post of managing director, private banking, having most recently been market head for Hong Kong at the private banking arm of HSBC. Kwong spent 28 years with HSBC Group in various senior roles covering private and commercial banking, including the position of chief executive of HSBC Macau from 2009 to 2013. Kwong reports to Vivian Chan, who is regional head, private banking for Greater China and North Asia. 

Peter Lam was appointed as MD and deputy market head, private banking, Standard Chartered Bank. Most recently, Lam worked at HSBC Private Bank, where has was a managing director. Lam has almost 30 years of experience with banks including UBS, Citibank and Credit Lyonnais. In his role, he reports to Kwong. James Ling was appointed executive director and team leader for private banking; he was most recently at HSBC Private Bank as a senior director. He has 28 years of wealth management experience and has held senior positions in Dah Sing Bank, DBS Bank and Citibank; he reports to Kwong.

RBC Wealth Management appointed Rohit Bhalla as executive director, team head for Southeast Asia. He joins from ANZ, where he held a similar role. The position at RBC is a newly-formed one. Bhalla is based in Singapore. He reports to Tho Gea Hong, head of wealth management, Southeast Asia. In a 16-year career in financial services, Bhalla most recently served as senior director and team head, private bank Singapore for ANZ. His experience also includes roles at Deutsche Bank and Citibank.