IFPHK's Wan to BEA Union IM as CEO
Eleanor Wan, chief executive of the Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong, is to leave that post next month to head up Bank of East Asia Union Investment Management as chief executive.
The IFPHK, which certifies financial advisers in Hong Kong and Macau on behalf of the Financial Planning Standards Board as its regional representative, said it is in the process of looking for someone to succeed Wan in the post.
Wan had only been with the IFPHK for a year, having joined in June 2010 to take over for Angeline Chin, who took a sabbatical to study abroad and subsequently resigned. Prior to joining the IFPHK, Wan had been CEO of Allianz Global Investors (HK), and before that, had been vice chairman of the Kong Kong Investment Funds Association.
BEA Union IM is a Hong Kong-based joint venture investment manager launched in 2007 by the Bank of East Asia and Union Asset Management Holding AG. It specialises in the management of Asian equities, as well as fixed income and multi-asset investment products.
At BEA Union IM, Wan is understood to be in line to succeed Ilex Lam, who is leaving the company within the next few weeks, according to reports. A press spokewoman for BEA Union IM said the company was not commenting on the matter but that an announcement would be made "when appropriate".
In a column in this month’s International Adviser, Wan addressed the difficulties advisers face in trying to quantify their clients degree of “knowledge and experience”, which they are being required to do under a new Securities and Futures Commission regulation.
With financial products becoming “increasingly more complex”, she noted, “financial planners need to improve their skills so that they can present risks versus returns to clients much more clearly.”