PEOPLE MOVES: Julius Baer, Cameron Hume, HSBC, Vanguard
Julius Baer
Julius Baer has appointed Ashish Gumashta as its new chief executive in India.
Gumashta takes over as CEO following the the departure of Atul Singh from the role, the Geneva-based private bank announced on Monday.
Gumashta spent more than 20 years at Merrill Lynch, until it was acquired by Julius Baer in 2015. In his new role he will aim to expand the bank’s presence in India, where it already has five offices, in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and New Delhi, the company said.
“India is a high-potential market for our group with a very unique demographic profile,’ Rémy A. Bersier, Julius Baer’s head of emerging markets, said in a statement announcing the change.
Singh is leaving ‘to take on a new challenge outside the bank’, the firm said.
According to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report, India has a HNWI population of 200,000, with combined wealth of nearly US$800bn.
Cameron Hume
Edinburgh-based fixed income manager Cameron Hume has added former OMGI fixed income absolute return head Russ Oxley to its ranks as it seeks to grow its investment management business.
Oxley will work with the firm on a consultancy contract, as agreed with his Edinburgh-based management company Avrox Investment Solutions, Cameron Hume said.
Oxley was previously head of fixed income absolute return at Old Mutual Global Investors. He also worked previously at Ignis Asset Management where his team managed more than £4bn of assets for its Absolute Return Government Bond fund.
His role will be to develop strategic investment ideas as part of Cameron Hume’s investment team, the company said.
Cameron Hume, founded in 2011 by Guy Cameron, a former partner at Baillie Gifford and Christian Torkington, who held senior roles at Barclays, Standard Life and Scottish Widows, currently manages US$700m on behalf of Sanlam, one of South Africa’s biggest insurers.
It recently signed distribution agreements with Melbourne-based AFM Investment Partners and with Nordicus Capital, which operates out of Stockholm.
Vanguard
Vanguard has named Thomas Merz as its head of European distribution, ex-UK.
In this newly created role, Merz will be responsible for expanding the firm’s presence in both new and established markets in continental Europe.
Prior to joining Vanguard, he was head of ETFs, Europe at UBS Asset Management. Based in Zurich, he has joined Vanguard’s European leadership team and will report to Sean Hagerty, head of Europe, the company said.
HSBC
Chris Langford has been named as head of retail banking and wealth management in Jersey.
He was previously area director for HSBC UK, covering numerous parts of the country. Having started his career with Prudential Assurance in 1994, Langford subsequently worked for a number of wealth management and banking organisations both in the UK and Europe, including two years in Luxembourg.
In his new role Langford will oversee the bank’s branch network and lead its premier, wealth and mortgage teams, HSBC said in a statement announcing the hire.
Willis Towers Watson
Mei-Chee Shum has been appointed as greater China life sales and practice leader in Willis Towers Watson insurance consulting and software business.
In what the company says is a newly-created role, Shum will focus on client, geographical, cultural and regulatory differences across Asia, focusing on the greater China region.
Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, Shum held a number of senior positions across Asia, most recently as chief marketing officer for AIA’s operations in the Philippines and group head of product strategy for AIA Group based in Hong Kong. She was also previously chief financial officer and later chief executive for Manulife Taiwan.
