Yap succeeds Sameer Dev, who left the company last May, and will serve as a "key conduit" for strengthening the firm’s relationships with sovereign wealth funds, government pension funds, central banks, insurance companies and endowments, the asset manager said.
Yap most recently had been a marketing director at Absolute Asia Asset Management, an affiliated boutique Asian equities manager of Natixis Global Asset Management. Prior to that, he held senior client relationship roles with Wellington and Citi Group.
Also at Principal Global, Paul McConomy has been named chief administration officer, Asia and the Middle East, a new position created to support the asset manager's "ongoing growth and expansion in Asia and the Middle East", according to the company.
McConomy assumed the role on 1 January. Prior to coming to Principal Global, he was chief operating officer of CIMB – Principal Islamic Asset Management, a 50:50 joint venture with the US-based Principal Financial Group, the parent of Principal Global Investors, and the CIMB Group, the second-largest bank in Malaysia.
From 2002 to 2010, he had been regional counsel for the Principal Financial Group in Asia, based in Hong Kong.
As chief administration officer for Asia and the Middle East at Principal Global Investors (Singapore), he will be responsible for oversight of compliance and legal matters in Asia and the Middle East, while also providing business support for funds distribution in Asia, and for reinforcing business ties with the CIMB Group.
Both McConomy and Yap report to Andrea Muller, chief executive for Principal Global Investors – Asia.
