Pictet AM names new Asia ex-Japan head of intermediaries
Pictet Asset Management has appointed Freeman Tsang as head of intermediaries for Asia ex-Japan, effective yesterday, according to a statement from the firm.
He replaced Lawrence Tse, who will be leaving for personal reasons, the firm said. Tse will remain with the firm until the end of November to ensure a smooth transition. Tse has been in his role since 2011, according to his Linkedin profile.
Based in Hong Kong, Tsang will assume responsibility for developing wholesale fund distribution and client relationship management activities in Asia ex-Japan.
He has at least 24 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is re-joining Pictet AM after being head of offshore China, Hong Kong and Korea for the wholesale business at Legg Mason Global Asset Management for 11 years, according to the statement. Before that, he was vice president of business development for Pictet Funds between 2006 and 2009.
Tsang’s departure from Legg Mason follows after Franklin Templeton closed its acquisition of Legg Mason in the middle of this year. At the time, Franklin Templeton made several staff changes and reporting lines in the firm’s Asia-Pacific distribution team.
As of the end of June, Pictet AM managed $209bn in assets globally, with 17 seventeen business development centres worldwide, according to the statement.
Barings appoints new CEO
Barings has named Mike Freno as its new chairman and CEO, effective immediately, according to a statement from the asset manager.
Freno will replace Tom Finke in both chairman and CEO roles, the statement said. Finke, who will be leaving the firm to pursue another opportunity, will remain with Barings toward the end of November to support the transition of roles.
Freno is currently Barings’ president, a role he assumed in February this year, and is a member of the firm’s senior leadership team, board of directors and Barings BDC, according to the statement.
Since he became president earlier this year, he successfully integrated all of Barings’ investments business, including public and private credit, real estate and specialty equity markets, in addition to operations, technology, product management, distribution and marketing.
“My first priority will be engaging virtually with our clients and our employees around the world,” Freno said. “We have tremendous momentum heading into 2021, despite challenges of the pandemic.”
Globally, Barings manages $354bn in assets, according to the statement.
First Sentier makes leadership changes for direct infra
First Sentier Investors (previously First State Investments), has made several leadership appointments in its direct infrastructure team.
New York-based John Ma has been appointed as partner and head of North American infrastructure. Ma joined the firm in December 2018 and previously held the role of director and head of infrastructure investments for North America.
London-based Marcus Ayre, previously co-head of Europe, has been appointed as the sole head of Europe, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Sydney-based Danny Latham and Chris McArthur will retain their existing responsibilities as co-heads of Australia and New Zealand.
Other senior appointments in the team include:
• Nick Grant, Gregor Kurth and Hamis Lea-Wilson have been named as partners and will join the global infrastructure senior management team
• Gavin Kerr has been appointed as head of transactions for Australia and New Zealand
• Daniel Timms has been named as head of asset management for Australia and New Zealand
First Sentier has $9.6bn in infrastructure assets as of the end of 30 September.
In total, the firm manages around $157bn in assets.
Deutsche Wealth hires 29 bankers from StanChart
Deutsche Bank Wealth Management has hired 29 front-facing staffs in Asia since January, including 10 directors joining as team heads, relationship managers and investment managers, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Name of the directors:
• Ivan Tam, team head
• Kenny Choy, team head
• Amy Chau, relationship manager
• Sam Chan, relationship manager
• Cindy Wu, relationship manager
• Cynthia Cheng, relationship manager
• Kelly Chan, investment manager
• Rita Lai, team head
• Calvin Poon, relationship manager
• Stephen So, investment manager
All 29 staff are from Standard Chartered and are based in Hong Kong under the North Asia group, with a focus on China, the person said.
The appointments follow the hiring of Boris Kwok earlier this year as one of the group heads for North Asia. He was also from Standard Chartered, where he managed a team of at least 25 relationship managers and team heads, who all covered Greater China.
Previously reported people moves:
Francis Wong, head of intermediary sales and Kristy Wong, client associate director, are leaving Gam, as reported by Spy. It has not yet been revealed where they are headed to, although it is understood that they will be staying in the industry.
FSA sought more information from GAM, but it did not reply to whether it will be replacing Francis Wong and Kristy Wong.
