From the press release desk this week…
People moves
Capital Group has made three appointments for its distribution teams in Asia. They are Priscilla Lau, Hong Kong-based director for product marketing; Richard Chan, Hong Kong-based associate director for financial intermediaries for North Asia; and Grace Yeo, Singapore-based associate director of institutional business for Asia ex-Japan. Before Capital Group, Lau was Fidelity’s senior investment specialist, while Chan was at Pimco, where he held roles providing client servicing to investment counsellors. Yeo was at Nordea Asset Management, where she held a similar capacity covering both private banks and institutions…
Indosuez Wealth Management has appointed Romain Jérome as chief digital officer, reporting to Jacques Prost, the firm’s CEO. Jérome will be responsible for developing the firm’s digital plan in coordination with third parties and Azqore, Indosuez’s subsidiary specialising in technology outsourcing services and banking transactions for the wealth management sector. Jérome joined Credit Agricole, Indosuez’s parent, in 2005. Most recently, he was director of digital transformation and innovation at Credit Agricole CIB since 2016…
The Securities and Futures Commission has made appointments and reappointments to various committees. These committees include the academic and accreditation advisory committee, committee on real estate investment trusts, public shareholders group and the share registrars’ disciplinary committee. Details including the committees’ responsibilities and full lists of members with their titles are available here.
Business moves
Natixis Investment Management has established Thematics Asset Managers, a Paris-based affiliate that will focus on thematic strategies, including safety, water and artificial intelligence and robotics. The new firm is expected to launch its products by the second quarter this year. The firm will be led by Karen Kharmandarian, chairman and chief investment officer, and Mohammed Amor, managing partner and head of development. The investment team will include Arnaud Bisschop, Frédéric Dupraz and Nolan Hoffmeyer, who joined Natixis Investment Managers in November last year, and Simon Gottelier who joins as a senior portfolio manager on the Water strategy. Before joining Natixis IM, the investment team developed and launched a range of thematic funds and were together involved in the management of at least $21bn in assets…
China Everbright’s AUM increased 11% to HK$143.5bn ($18.28bn) in 2018, which includes its private equity and fund management business, according to its annual report. The firm’s fund management business steadily internationalised, which promoted cross-border inbound and outbound investments and balanced global asset allocation…
ESG
Style Analytics, a provider of factor-based analysis software for investment professionals, has entered into a distribution agreement with Sustainalytics, a global leader in ESG research, ratings and analysis, to serve the rapidly growing demand to integrate ESG considerations into the investment process. As part of the agreement, Style Analytics will provide an easily-accessible portfolio level view of Sustainalytics’ company ESG data through its Skyline product…
