From the press release desk this week…
People moves
Investec Asset Management has appointed Eric Fu to the newly-created role of Hong Kong-based managing director and country head for Greater China. Fu will be responsible for developing the firm’s strategy, leading operations and driving growth, as well as overseeing its advisory and institutional businesses across the region. He was previously chief executive officer of HSBC Broking Services Asia, where he oversaw the firm’s full investment services…
Eastspring Investments has made two senior appointments to its multi-asset solutions team. Jason Hepner joins as a director and senior portfolio manager, while Mary Nicola has been appointed as director for G10 foreign exchange and Asian fixed income strategist. Hepner will be responsible for the investment performance of allocated multi-asset strategies and enhancing portfolio construction, while Nicola will be responsible for global macro research and will contribute with generating investment ideas. Before Eastspring, Hepner was with Standard Life Aberdeen, where he held senior investment roles in emerging markets and multi-asset teams. Nicole was from Aviva Investors and has also worked at Standard Chartered Bank and BNP Paribas…
M&G Investments has appointed two investment directors from its London headquarters to join the Asia team. Ajay Patel, who has been the firm since 2007, joins the Hong Kong office and will continue his role as an investment director with the private funds investment team, whose portfolio is invested across Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Pierre Chartles, who has been with the firm since 2013, joins the Singapore office as an investment director and will continue to work closely with the firm’s retail fixed interest team in London to provide client service and distribution teams with first-hand investment knowledge, fund updates and views…
Northern Trust Asset Management has appointed Wouter Sturkenboom as chief investment strategist for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific. In this newly-created role, Sturkenboom will be responsible for designing, implementing and communicating global investment strategy. Before Northern Trust AM, he spent six years at Russell Investments as senior investment strategist, where he was responsible for the house view on EMEA…
Man Numeric, Man Group’s fundamentally-driven quantitative investment business, has appointed Paul Kamenski and Robert Lam as Boston-based co-heads of credit. In these new roles, both Kamenski and Lam will be responsible for the ongoing development and day-to-day portfolio management of all credit strategies at Man Numeric. Kamenski first joined Man in 2012 and was most recently a senior quantitative researcher and began leading the firm’s research in fixed income and corporate bonds last year. Lam joins from Apollo Global Management, where he spent three years leading quantitative research and data science for the liquid opportunistic and credit platform…
Unigestion has increased its capabilities in the alternatives space with the appointment of Didier Anthamatten as senior investment manager and promotion of Nicolas Poignant to assistant investment manager within the firm’s equity derivatives team. Both Anthamatten and Poignant will be focusing on running volatility strategies. Before Unigestion, Anthamatten was previously head of equity derivatives trading at Pictet, while Poignant was a quantitative analyst within the firm since 2015…
Most popular funds
Four of the 20 most-viewed funds among Asia ex-Japan’s institutional investors in September on eVestment’s institutional mutual fund platform are Canada-focused funds, according to eVestment’s monthly Advantage viewership report. Of the top 20, 16 are equity funds…
Source: eVestment
ESG
Amundi has adopted a three-year action plan to increase its commitment to responsible investment. Under the plan, it expects to integrate ESG analysis across all of its funds as well as develop ESG advisory services to its institutional clients. The firm is also expected to double the number of initiatives promoting investment in projects with an environmental or social impact…
Regulation
The Securities and Futures Commission has changed its logo to an eagle. The new image was unveiled during SFC’s annual reception for key stakeholders and alumni, where the regulator bid farewell to Carlson Tong as he retires after a six-year tenure as chairman and welcomed Tim Lui as the SFC’s chairman-designate. “The SFC has moved with the times in refreshing its image, but it will always remain squarely focused on upholding fair and orderly markets to protect investors,” Tong said. “Our markets are now much larger, more complex and more connected than ever and times like these call for unceasing vigilance, rapid intervention and resolute enforcement,” he added…
SFC’s new logo
