A roundup of moves for the region, with notable changes and appointments at Citigroup, HSBC Asset Management and WRISE Group.

Citigroup named Johanna Chua as its new head of emerging markets economic research. Chua, who remains based in Hong Kong, took over from London-based David Lubin. This was the first time that a global emerging market head has been based in Hong Kong.

Chua joined the US banking group in 2000 and has been head of its economics team across the pan-Asia region since 2009, including China, India, and Korea.

DWS appointed Hiroki Wiesheu as president and head of coverage, Japan. Hiroki reports to Vanessa Wang, Asia-Pacific head, and APAC coverage head. Hiroki was previously at Metzler Asset Management Japan, where he was president and CEO, serving as a board member at Metzler-Payden and Metzler Realty Advisors in the US. 

First Sentier Investors appointed former Perpetual Limited senior figure Amanda Gazal as new chief operating officer, based in the firm’s Sydney office.

Gazal replaces Gary Cotton who, in addition to his responsibilities as regional managing director of EMEA, was interim COO. With more than 20 years of experience in asset management and investment banking, Gazal was previously COO at Perpetual Limited, holding that post since 2020.

Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation appointed Junwei Wu and Sukrit Dewan to leadership roles in Asia-Pacific. Junwei Wu joined as head of structured credit for Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore. The team in which Wu and Dewan operate was a new one for the bank. 

Prior to joining, Wu was the head of structuring for Southeast Asia and India at Credit Suisse. Sukrit Dewan joined SMBC in Hong Kong as head of global sponsor coverage for Asia-Pacific, where he works with the firm’s regional and global partners. With more than 17 years of experience in banking across Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific, Dewan has worked at Credit Suisse, Mizuho Bank and Société Générale.

Global investment manager Barings appointed John Park as head of Korea and the sole representative director of Baring Asset Management Korea Limited. Park was co-representative director of Barings Korea, serving alongside Ike Bae, who retired after 12 years of service. Park, who joined Barings Korea in 2000, formerly SEI Asset Korea, was promoted to chief investment officer in July 2008.

Newton Investment Management hired Liliana Castillo Dearth to lead the firm’s emerging market and Asia equities team. She replaced Paul Birchenough and Ian Smith, co-leads of the emerging markets and Asia equities team, who left to pursue other opportunities. In this London-based role, Dearth reports to chief investment officer of equities, John Porter. Dearth has managed equity strategies for more than 20 years, most recently as portfolio manager at Wellington Management where she developed and managed emerging market equity portfolios, investing in sustainable, secular growth trends in those markets. Prior to Wellington, she spent 18 years at AllianceBernstein.

HSBC Asset Management appointed Pang Qi Lim as its new chief executive for the Southeast Asia and Singapore markets. Lim succeeded Patrice Conxicoeur, CEO and head of Southeast Asia, who decided to pursue new opportunities outside HSBC. In addition to these C-suite roles, Lim became head of strategic partnerships for Southeast Asia. He is based in Singapore and reports to Daisy Ho, CEO for Asia-Pacific and Hong Kong, at HSBC Asset Management, and Ashmita Acharya, head of wealth and personal banking, HSBC. Prior to these roles, Lim led business development for client solutions and services businesses, Asia-Pacific, at Fidelity International. Before that, he was the Asia business lead for strategic initiatives. 

SEI appointed Ian Love as head of its asset management business for the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asian regions. Love leads SEI’s asset management strategy and oversees the institutional and intermediary businesses outside of North America.

WRISE Group, a Singapore-based wealth management business, appointed wealth management and investment banking senior figure Shigehiro Suzuki as market head of Japan. He leads a team in the Singapore office. Shigehiro, who brought more than 20 years of experience in the financial and accounting industry, has worked at firms such as Bank of Singapore and Credit Suisse. He also worked at Grant Thornton Taiyo ASG (Japan) as a certified public accountant.

Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai & Co (SHK), an alternative investments firm, named Christophe Lee as deputy chief executive of its funds management arm. Lee is deputy CEO of Sun Hung Kai Capital Partners Limited.

Lee has more than 32 years of financial services and asset management experience in Asia. Prior to joining SHK, he was the chief executive of IDEG Asset Management (Hong Kong) and held senior positions at SHK Financial, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. He was also the founder and CEO of Lotus Asset Management.

Julius Baer appointed new market heads across Asia: 

Yee Kim Tan, Singapore branch manager as well as Greater China location head and group head in Singapore, was promoted to market head Greater China Singapore. This added to his role as Singapore branch manager. He reports to Jimmy Lee, member of the executive board at the bank and Asia head. A banker with more than 25 years of industry experience, and working in locations including London, Shanghai and Singapore, Tan relocated to Singapore in 2023. He was executive officer for Bank Julius Baer Hong Kong branch in 2016.

Shui Wei Ho, group head of Southeast Asia, was promoted to market head Thailand, Japan, and Asia Switzerland. She also reports to Lee. Ho, who joined Julius Baer on 1 August 2022 for her previous role, has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Julius Baer, Ho was with the Bank of Singapore where she was the market head for Thailand and Indochina. Prior to that, she was with UBS and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. 

Kunal Sumaya, group head global India and Japan Singapore, was promoted to market head global NRI. Sumaya, who reports to Rahul Malhotra, became a member of the executive board, Julius Baer. He has worked at the Swiss bank for 13 years. 

Chin Lit Yee remained as market head Southeast Asia and David Shick remains as market head Greater China. 

360 ONE Wealth, the Indian wealth management firm, named Satheesh Krishnamurthy as the CEO of its digitally-driven high net worth business. Prior to this role, Krishnamurthy was involved in launching the brands of Axis Bank catering to affluent and private banking clients. 

OCBC (Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation), parent of Bank of Singapore, named a new chief executive for its Hong Kong business – Wang Ke. 

He replaced Ivy Au-Yeung, who retired at the end of 2023. Au-Yeung, who was appointed the CEO of OCBC Wing Hang Hong Kong in 2021, joined the bank in 2019 as the deputy CEO. Wang was also appointed the head of Greater China. Ang Eng Siong, the CEO of OCBC China, and Kelvin Lou, CEO of OCBC Macau, report to Wang. Before his latest appointment, Wang served as CEO of OCBC Wing Hang China from December 2019 until October 2023.