ROBECO MAKES SENIOR HIRES FOR GREATER CHINA
Robeco has made two senior appointments to its Greater China team, according to a press statement.
Jin Mei has been named as its Shanghai-based head of China, responsible for leading the asset manager’s business development in the mainland. Before Robeco, he was Franklin Templeton’s general manager of its WFOE.
Robeco established an office in China in 2007 and have been focusing on institutional investors, including sovereign wealth and pension funds. In 2016, it expanded its client coverage to private investors via the launch of its qualified domestic limited partnership (QDLP) platform in 2018, which allows the firm to sell offshore products directly to qualified investors, including high-net-worth investors.
So far, Robeco has launched one QDLP strategy, the Robeco Universal Consumption New Trend Equity Overseas Private Investment Fund, according to records from the Asset Management Association of China..
With Jin’s appointment, the firm now has plans of establishing a private fund management (PFM) platform in the mainland, which enables the firm to offer onshore products investing in the domestic markets to qualified investors, according to the statement.
“We expect to expand the Shanghai team further to support the business in establishing a PFM platform for the mainland market,” Graham Elliot, head of institutional business for Asia (ex-Japan), said in the statement.
Meanwhile, Amanda Lin has been appointed as Hong Kong-based head of institutional business development for Greater China, responsible for the firm’s offshore business development.
Lin has at least 20 years of industry experience and has led Robeco’s institutional business in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan since November 2015. Her new role is an extension of her existing responsibilities, the statement noted.
Before Robeco, Lin was at BNY Mellon Investment Management, where she was responsible for its institutional business development in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
As of the end of December, Robeco managed €176bn ($207.1bn) in assets, of which €160bn is committed to ESG integration, according to the statement.
INCOME PARTNERS CREATES CHIEF DISTRIBUTION ROLE
Hong Kong-based Asia fixed income specialist Income Partners has appointed Linda Luk in the newly created role of chief distribution officer, focusing on the firm’s intermediary relationships, according to a statement from the firm.
“Intermediaries continue to be a key channel of funding for Income Partners, and we are confident that with [Luk] at the helm of our intermediary team, we can develop a robust distribution capability to provide long-term and stable capital to our products,” Emil Nguy, chief investment officer and CEO of Income Partners, said in the statement.
Before Income Partners, Luk was at Vanguard, where she was head of Hong Kong distribution.
During her time at Vanguard, she led the sales and distribution of Vanguard’s ETFs and mutual funds to high-net-worth individuals and retail investors through the firm’s distribution partners in Hong Kong and Singapore, including private banks, family offices, retail banks, insurance companies, brokers, financial advisers and fund platforms.
BNP PARIBAS REAL ESTATE NAMES TWO APAC CO-HEADS
BNP Paribas Real Estate has named Han Khim Siew and Mathieu Brummer as co-heads for Asia-Pacific, according to statement from the firm.
Siew is based in Singapore and was previously a managing director of the firm. He joined BNP Paribas Real Estate in 2013, and before that, was Jones Lang La Salle Indonesia’s head of investments.
Brummer is based in Hong Kong and spearheaded the firm’s North Asian capital raising efforts since the inception of the Hong Kong platform in 2013 as managing director and deputy head for North Asia. Before joining BNP Paribas Real Estate in 2011, he spent six years with Morgan Stanley Real Estate in Frankfurt.
Operationally, Siew will report to Joris Dierckx, CEO of BNP Paribas’s Singapore branch, while Brummer will report to Hugo Leung, CEO of BNP Paribas’s Hong Kong branch. Functionally, they report to Larry Young, head of BNP Paribas Real Estate’s International Investment Group.
“Since its foundation in 2013, BNP Paribas Real Estate Asia Pacific has successfully facilitated the flow of over €9bn from Asian investors into European and UK real estate markets across commercial office, retail, logistics and hospitality assets,” Young said in the statement.
“The close collaboration with corporate investment banking, wealth management and asset management across the Asia-Pacific region has greatly contributed to this success,” he added.
ASIFMA WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBERS
The Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (Asifma) has welcomed five new members to its board.
They are:
- Mark Militello, Apac head of markets and clearing and collateral management at BNY Mellon
- Rebecca Terner Lentchner, head of government and regulatory policy for Apac at Citadel Securities
- Patrick Poon, group executive director and chief financial officer at Haitong International Securities Group
- Barbara Navarro, head of Google cloud, government affairs and public policy for Apac at Google
- Leilei Cheng, head of product development department at Shanghai Clearing House
Meanwhile, the following board members have retained their rotational seats:
- Kok Wei Chu, senior managing director and group head for treasury and markets at CIMB
- Andrew Ng, group executive and head of treasury and markets at DBS
- Sneha Sanghvi, head of financial markets for Asia at Westpac
Asifma’s board comprises 28 directors, including the chairman and CEO of Asifma. Every two years, the executive committee votes on eight rotational seats.
Asifma is an independent, regional trade association with around 140 member firms comprising a diverse range of institutions from both the buy and sell side, including banks, asset managers, law firms and market infrastructure service providers.
