PEOPLE MOVES: BNP Paribas WM, Axa, Merian Global Investors

French bank makes c-suite changes in its Asia wealth arm, while insurance firm shakes up Singapore operation

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BNP Paribas Wealth Management

Andy Chai and Arnaud Tellier have been made co-chief executives of the French bank’s Asia Pacific wealth management division.

They replace Pierre Vrielinck, who will move in December to take up a senior role within BNP Paribas Wealth Management in France after two years at the helm in Asia Pacific.

Although Chai and Tellier have joint responsibility for the strategic direction and operations of the bank’s wealth management business in the Asia Pacific, they have sub-regional roles based on their previous positions at the bank.

Chai, who was head of wealth management for Greater China, is in charge of the Greater China markets including mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and also leads the strategic client segment across Asia.

Tellier, who was head of wealth management Singapore and Southeast Asia, is now responsible for Southeast Asia, India, and international markets.

Investment services and support functions also report to him, as does David Lim, a market head for Southeast Asia, who has been elevated to Tellier’s previous job.

Both Tellier and Chai will report to co-chief executive of BNP Paribas Wealth Management, Vincent Lecomte, and chief executive Asia Pacific of BNP Paribas Group, Eric Raynaud.

Meanwhile, veteran BNP Paribas banker Mignonne Cheng will retain her role as Asia chairman for wealth management.

Axa Insurance Singapore

Jeremy Ong has joined the firm as chief customer and operations officer, a newly established role with responsibility for all customer, IT and operations activities.

In addition, Julien Callard has been appointed managing director of retail, and Mauricio Coarasa has been named chief financial officer.

They will join the executive committee and will report to Jean Drouffe, chief executive of Axa Singapore.

Ong was most recently senior vice president of the group chief executive office of NTUC Enterprise.

Callard joins from Axa Mexico where he was most recently head of retail property and casualty.

Coarasa has been with Axa since 2010 and was previously chief financial officer for Axa Korea.

Also, managing director Sean Goh will have an expanded portfolio encompassing life distribution in addition to responsibility for the life strategic business unit.

Merian Global Investors (MGI)

The asset manager has made four hires for its newly established Dublin office, which opens on 21 October 2019.

The team has over 60 years’ of combined professional experience.

The appointments are:

  • Paul Nunan as country head, Ireland, joining from Link Fund Solutions Ireland. He will report to MGI’s chief operating officer, Nicola Stronach;
  • Geraldine Gleeson as financial controller, joining from KPMG Ireland;
  • Shane O’Donovan as head of compliance and enterprise risk, transferring from MGI’s Hong Kong office; and
  • Ross Allan as senior investment risk manager, joining from Legal and General Investment Management.

Gleeson, O’Donovan and Allan will report to Nunan.

Cult Wines

The fine wine investment management service has appointed Eddie Kir as head of business development, north Asia.

Operating out of the Hong Kong office, Kir will focus on expanding the company’s network of partnerships with financial intermediaries in mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan, including local and regional wealth managers, family offices and private banks.

Kir has over 20 years of business-development, sales and marketing experience at asset management firms, having worked in both New York and Hong Kong.

He was most recently head of asset management for Asia at Commerzbank.

KBL European Private Bankers

The parent group of UK wealth manager Brown Shipley has named Olga Miler as group head of marketing.

Miler co-founded SmartPurse, a startup that provides a financial toolkit for women.

Earlier, she served for over a decade at UBS in a range of roles, including global programme architect of UBS’s segment strategy for women; managing director, head of UBS Wealth Management marketing Europe; and executive director in the bank’s ultra-high net worth individual division.

Aviva Investors

The asset manager has nabbed Emma Halley from Fulcrum Asset Management for a role in its target return team.

Halley joins as head of investment process for multi-asset and macro and will be responsible for generating ideas across Aviva Investor’s multi-asset portfolios, focusing particularly on its Multi-Strategy (Aims) range.

Based in the firm’s London office, she will report to the team’s chief investment officer Peter Fitzgerald

At Fulcrum, Halley worked as head of portfolio management.

Trium Capital

The alternative asset manager has named Patrick Mang as chief operating officer, a newly created role.

Mang joins from HSBC, where he was head of innovation for global markets.

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