He received a sign-on bonus of HK$1.8m ($230,000) and a fixed salary of HK$3.24m a year, plus will be eligible for a discretionary Chinese New Year bonus equivalent to one month of his salary, as well as a year-end discretionary bonus, the Hong Kong-listed fund house said in a statement to the local bourse.
The appointment followed the announcement of predecessor Timothy Tse Wai-ming departing.
Au, 57, has about 30 years of experience in the industry. He previously served as the Hong Kong CEO of Eastsping, Prudential’s Asian investment arm for one year, after spending five years as the CEO at Bank of China (Hong Kong) Asset Management.
Eastspring’s Hong Kong CEO role will be filled by Guy Strapp, the group CEO, hence there will be no new hiring for this post, an Eastspring spokeswoman said.
After the poor first-half results due to heavy outflows, the firm said it will position to “an era of golden opportunities”.
“We’ve seen China turn into a major exporter of capital to the world, from an importer, and this presents a historic opportunity for Value Partners, which has the brand, resources and industry track record to take full advantage of the situation,” Cheah Cheng-hye, chairman and Co-CIO, said in the statement.
Au added that “investment flows in and out of China are expected to grow substantially in the coming years and decades” and the firm is “well-positioned to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime paradigm shift”.
He takes charge of the group’s business and corporate affairs, while Cheah looks after the overall investment-management and business strategy and key appointments, the firm said.
The firm has $13.8bn of assets under management as of October-end, a slight drop from $14bn a month earlier. It recorded a net outflow of $1.8bn in the first three quarters of this year.
