Editorial Board

John Ng
Executive Director, Head of Funds Specialist & FST
DBS Bank

John has 30 years’ banking and finance experience. The first 11 years was spent in corporate banking and project finance with various Singapore and international banks, where he focused on large Singapore and international corporates. John then moved to Amsterdam in 2004 with the Fortis group in the asset management division, where he spent the next 4 years as investment analyst and portfolio manager for the managed accounts business.

He subsequently moved back to Singapore and joined ING Private Bank (now Bank of Singapore) in 2007. He spent the next 9 years at BOS as head of research, overseeing all internal securities research covering equities, bonds, mutual and hedge funds, as well as private equity. He also held responsibility managing the product marketing team at BOS. He was management committee member of BOS’ Product Management Group and member of the investment committee.

John joined DBS in June 2017, setting up the Portfolio Counseling Team and headed the managed advisory service. In 2020, took over responsibility for the funds business at DBS. He is member of the Investment Products and Advisory management committee and wealth investment committee.

John holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, and a bachelor’s degree from Curtin University, Australia.

Yazid Mahadi
Head of Funds Selection
Bank of Singapore

Yazid Mahadi joined Bank of Singapore on 19 September 2022 as Head of Funds Selection. He reports to Jean Chia, Head, Portfolio Management & Research Office (PMRO).

Yazid will lead the team, based in Singapore and Hong Kong, which is responsible for the selection of best-in-class fund managers and funds. Bank of Singapore curates and monitors an extensive platform of mutual funds and exchange traded funds, for both advisory and discretionary investments for wealth management clients.

Yazid joins Bank of Singapore from Brunei’s leading financial institution BIBD group, where he was managing director for its subsidiary BIBD Securities (“BIBDS”) from 2018 to 2022. Under his leadership, BIBDS became the first full-fledged licensed asset manager in the country and expanded its wealth management business. Prior to joining BIBD, Yazid was a portfolio manager for Brunei’s sovereign wealth fund, focusing on equities, hedge funds and multi-asset strategies.

Yazid graduated with a distinction in the Masters of Philosophy (MPhil) in Economics from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK). He obtained a first class degree with honours in the Bachelor of Science (BSc Hons) in Economics from the University of Manchester, UK where he was awarded the Manchester School Award. He is a CFA charterholder and has a special interest in environmental, social and governance topics.

Vincent Au
Chief Investment Officer
ALPS Capital Management

Vincent joined ALPS Capital Management, a multi-family office, in 2018 as Managing Director and is the Chief Investment Officer. His main focuses are designing and developing investment strategies and solutions for UHNW & HNW clients, and actively managing ALPS’s multi-asset portfolios and global equity mandates. Prior to joining ALPS, Vincent was a senior portfolio manager at Asia Capital Re in Singapore, an alternative investment portfolio manager at Aerion in the UK, a multi-asset portfolio manager at MMC UK pension fund and a G7 bond fund manager at British Airways Pension. Skilled in Credit Research, Equity Research, Asset Management, Portfolio Management, Capital Markets, Mutual Funds and Hedge Funds. A holder of a master’s degree in International Trade and Finance from Lancaster University, UK. A CFA Charterholder and a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Simon Godfrey
Consultant
Value Minds

Simon Godfrey a consultant at Value Minds. Previously he was an asset and wealth management technology consultant with Hong Kong based firm Privé Technologies. Prior to that was head of product advisory at EFG Bank and head of APAC ex-Japan product management at Fidelity International in Hong Kong. Earlier in his career, he was an emerging markets investment specialist with BNP Paribas Asset Management and a portfolio manager and fund selector in Paris. He is EFFAS accredited, a CAIA charterholder and obtained the Certificate in ESG investing from the CFA Institute.

Kevin Liem
Treasurer of the Council and Court
Hong Kong Baptist University

Mr Kevin Liem is the Treasurer of the Council and Court of the Hong Kong Baptist University, and serves as the Chairman of its Finance Committee, Investment Committee and Superannuation Fund.

He also holds the position as a Chief Investment Officer of a Hong Kong-based family office and the Chairperson of the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute.

Prior to that, he was the Chief Investment Officer for the Asian region at Swiss private banking group Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique SA, following his tenures with Aetos Capital’s Asia Pacific Speculative Investment Fund and UBS Investment Bank’s Investment Banking Department respectively.

Jeffrey Yap, CAIA
Managing Director, Regional Head of Wealth Management
Hong Leong Bank

Jeffrey is the Group Head of Wealth Management responsible for leading Hong Leong Bank’s Wealth and Private Banking businesses in the region.

priviously he headed the Investments and Wealth Solutions (IWS) team for Southeast Asia at HSBC Global Private Banking and Wealth. In this role, he is responsible for the delivery of investments, products, platforms and wealth solutions for the whole wealth continuum of Wealth and Personal Banking in Southeast Asia.

Jeffrey is a well-recognised investment professional in Asia with over 26 years of experience in global financial markets across asset classes. He has built and managed investment, trading, product and advisory teams for global financial institutions including hedge funds and private banks.

Jeffrey has a deep understanding of the trading, investment, products and risk management of various asset classes. He is unique among financial professionals in Asia with his breadth of experience ranging from equities, fixed income, FX, commodities, local currency debt to alternatives investments. Furthermore, his strong business acumen, mentoring and leadership experiences have enabled him to build strong businesses and manage successful teams regionally.

Prior to joining HSBC, Jeffrey worked as Managing Director in PAG, one of Asia’s largest alternative investment firms and was responsible for the firm’s public fixed income investments. Prior to that, he was Chief Investment Officer of Ark One as well as Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income Trading – Asia for Mizuho Securities.

Jeffrey is a CAIA charterholder and holds a MBA degree from Charles Sturt University and Honors Degree from University of London.

Isaac Poole
Chief Investment Officer
Oreana Financial Services

Isaac is the Chief Investment Officer for Oreana Financial Services, a wealth and asset management company operating across Asia and Australia.

Isaac’s career spans central banking, risk management, asset allocation and investment consulting in major firms in Australia, the UK and Hong Kong, including Willis Towers Watson, NSW Treasury Corporation, Lloyds Banking Group and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Isaac holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Sydney and is a Senior Industry Fellow with the School of Business and Economics at the University of Tasmania. Isaac is a Certified Investment Management Analyst certificant.

Julie Koo
Managing Director and Global Head of Third-Party Manager Solutions, Asia Pacific
Citi Global Wealth Investments

Julie Koo is Managing Director and Global Head of Third-Party Manager Solutions, Asia Pacific, for Citi Global Wealth Investments. Julie is responsible for driving the strategic vision for the business, developing new manager relationships, overseeing existing manager relationships and driving the global sales and marketing efforts for Citi’s third-party business across all client segments. She is a member of Citi Global Wealth’s traditional investments leadership team. Prior to her role, she was responsible for leading Citi Private Bank’s managed investments business in the Asia Pacific region. 

She started her career as an Investment Specialist in International/Global Equities at Fidelity in Boston, before moving to London in 2000 as an Executive Director for Institutional Business for EMEA. She moved with Fidelity to Hong Kong in 2006 as Managing Director and Head of Institutional Business for Asia ex­Japan. Subsequently, Julie spent 5 years in a similar role at HSBC Asset Management in Hong Kong, before joining UBS in 2015 as Head of Institutional Distribution for Asia Pacific, as well as Head of the overall Hong Kong business for UBS Asset Management. 

Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College. She is currently registered with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority as Executive Officer, responsible for securities dealing, securities advising and asset management.

Noli de Pala
Chief Investment Officer
TriLake Partners

Noli has worked in the financial services industry across four continents for over 35 years. After working as a financial consultant for AXA in Los Angeles, Noli joined UnionBank of the Philippines in 1996 where he headed trust and investment services and later, market risk management. In 2002 he moved to HSBC where he headed marketing, product development and training for the wealth management business. He was then assigned to HSBC‘s offshore banking headquarters in Jersey (UK) to train the bank’s financial advisers around the world from 2005-08. He returned to Manila to head HSBC’s trust and investments business before joining EastWest Bank where he was the trust officer and chief investment officer.

He joined Singapore wealth manager TriLake Partners as their Chief Investment Officer in 2016.

Noli developed and taught the Advanced Investment Management course in the University of the Philippines’s masteral program in Finance. He is a former president of the CFA Society of the Philippines. He has served CFA Institute in various working roles and committees and remains an active volunteer with the CFA Program.