Blackrock
The firm’s chairman and head of Taiwan, Leo Seewald, has left the company to pursue opportunities outside of the fund management industry.
He had been at Blackrock for nearly six years.
While the fund manager looks for a replacement, Graham Turl, Asia Pacific general counsel, and Andrew Hambleton, Asia Pacific chef operating officer, will act as chairman and head of Taiwan, respectively.
They are both based in Hong Kong.
Zurich
Justin Delaney has been named chief executive of Zurich, Life and Investments, Australia.
He steps in the top job in December 2019, when he will succeed Tim Bailey, who is returning to Europe to take on a different role within the Zurich Group.
Delaney was the chief operating officer for Australian life insurer TAL, and before then he held several senior positions over 12 years within the Macquarie Group.
Merian Global Investors
Karen Cheng has been hired as director of north Asia sales at the asset management firm.
She will be responsible for business development in the region, mainly targeting Hong Kong and South Korea.
Cheng joined on 12 August 2019 leaving her previous role as head of Hong Kong intermediaries at T. Rowe Price where she was since 2016.
Close Brothers Asset Management
Alastair Wilson joins the UK company as a managing director in the firm’s Edinburgh office.
His appointment is part of Close Brothers’ drive to expand its presence in Scotland.
Wilson joins from Brooks Macdonald where he was a founding member of the Edinburgh office in 2009.
XPS Pensions Group
The UK-based pension consultancy firm has hired James Leeming as head of investment in Manchester.
He has over 13 years of specialist investment experience and has advised clients on defined benefit and defined contribution schemes and their sponsors.
Leeming joined the firm on 5 August 2019 from JLT group where he was a director within the employee benefits practice.
Alpha FMC
The investment management consultancy has made three senior hires within its wealth management segment.
Toby Henry has been named principal; while Bradley Northrop and Patrick Dennien join as senior managers.
Henry was head of digital wealth and strategy at Capco, Northrop led the financial planning and wealth initiatives at EY, and Dennien was head of transformation programmes across the front, middle and back office at EY.
Troy AM
The UK-based asset manager has recruited Blake Hutchins to co-manage some of its income funds.
He will work alongside Francis Brooke and Hugo Ure on the Trojan Income Fund, Troy Income and Growth Trust, Trojan Ethical Income Fund and several others.
Hutchins joins from Investec Asset Management where he was the lead manager for the Investec UK Equity Income Fund and co-manager of the Investec Global Equity Income Fund.
RWC Partners
The investment manager has appointed two analysts within its global equities team.
Benjamin Hall and Nathaniel Clark will work on the Global Horizon strategy, focusing on investing in a portfolio of global companies trading at a discount to their intrinsic value.
Hall joins from Mondrian Investment Partners, where he spent seven years as an equity analyst and portfolio manager.
Clark went to the firm in June 2019 from M&G Investments where he worked as a global equity analyst since 2015.
