Allfunds

Allfunds, the B2B wealthtech and fund distribution platform offering access to over 100,000 funds from over 2,000 fund houses, has hired Sebastien Chaker as Head of Hong Kong as the company continues to strengthen its North-Asian reach via its Hong Kong office, which opened in early 2020.

In his new role, Sebastien Chaker will focus on managing the HK relationships with over 50 distributors Allfunds currently has across the region. He will also lead efforts to identify new opportunities to further develop Allfunds´ business in North Asia and complement the efforts of the commercial team in Singapore who currently works with top-tier clients in other countries in the region.

Sebastien brings over 20 years' experience to the role, having most recently served as an executive board member for Clearstream Fund Centre AG (Zurich), overseeing its regional Fund Centre sales efforts and promoting the entire Investment Fund Services product and service suite to local clients. He previously held senior roles at UBS, as well as Calastone, where he established and ran Asian operations upon relocating to Hong Kong with the firm in 2013.

He will report directly to David Perez de Albéniz, Head of Asia at Allfunds, who is based in Singapore.

Juan Alcaraz, CEO of Allfunds, said: "We are delighted to welcome Sebastien to Allfunds. His experience, deep market knowledge and leadership skills make him a perfect addition to our growing local team. Asia is a key market for Allfunds and we are committed to expand our reach an scope through key hires such as Sebastien, as well as by extending our activities further in the region"

CCLA Investment Management

Jasper Berens has joined CCLA Investment Management as head of client relationships and distribution.

He will be responsible for leading CCLA's efforts in bringing its well established ESG funds beyond its non-for-profit client base to UK investors through the intermediary market and for leading CCLA's client relationship team.

Berens said in a tweet: "There is rightly increasing scrutiny around the authenticity, heritage and durability of asset managers' ESG offerings, and CCLA has been investing responsibly for five decades. It's heritage in serving non-for-profit clients has shaped its responsible investing approach and forged alignment around community-orientated values. I doubt anyone has been doing this longer or can match their generally good and consistent performance over the long term.

"It is obvious that the world needs to move towards sustainability in a big way and investors as asset owners play a significant role in that.

"Being active owners and engaging around issues of concern with investee companies, whether that's diversity of the board, treatment of the labour force or pushing a company to set ambitious climate goals, #CCLA lives its ‘Good Investment' values and those of its investors. I have joined the perfect company."

Bitfrost

fintech company Bitfrost has announced that Anton Chashchin will take on the role of managing partner to spearhead the firm's international growth.

Anton Chashchin will lead Bitfrost's strategic growth trajectory across all business areas as the firm expands its operations in Switzerland, the EU, Gibraltar, and Singapore.

The appointment follows the firm's acquisition of OKONTO, where Chashchin was chief business development officer.

He was also previously managing partner at CEX.IO Prime prior to the CBDO role.

Crestbridge

Crestbridge, the private equity and real estate administration solutions provider, has named Marta Ciemiega as business development director, for the US.

She will be based at Crestbridge's US office in New York, has over 17 years' experience in financial services, through which she has developed an extensive knowledge of global private markets in the US, including in Real Estate, Venture Capital, Private Equity and Private Credit.

She joined Crestbridge from Sanne Group, where she was responsible for design and execution of North American business development strategy.
Prior to this, she held senior roles in RBC Investor & Treasury Services, Bloomberg LP, Fitch Solutions and Standard & Poor's.

Paul Perris, chief commercial officer, said: "We are excited to welcome someone of Marta's calibre and experience to lead the growth of the business in the United States. Her appointment represents both the confidence and growth ambitions we have in the US and our wider strategic commitment and investment to the market and our existing US clients."

Barclays Private Bank 

Barclays Private Bank has strengthened its presence in Asia by making three senior appointments in its Singapore office.

Adrian Khoo has been appointed Head of Strategic Client Coverage, Barclays Private Bank, Singapore. In his new role, Adrian will provide coverage for key strategic clients of the Private Bank in Singapore, with a focus on collaboration with the Corporate and Investment Bank. He will also help to drive Barclays Private Bank growth strategy for the Asian market.

Adrian has over 16 years' experience in the financial services industry and joins from Julius Baer & Co, Singapore, where he was a Senior Relationship Manager for South East Asia (SEA) covering Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) and Family Office clients. Prior to this, he has held senior roles at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, Asia Capital & Advisors, Goldman Sachs and Macquarie Bank.

Jaime Huang has been appointed Private Banker, Barclays Private Bank, Singapore and will focus on developing and growing the Private Bank business in Asia.

Prior to joining Barclays, Jaime worked at the Bank of Singapore and spent the last four years as a Director responsible for advising UHNW and Family Office clients in South East Asia and China. Jaime has over 18 years of private banking and investment advisory experience and has previously held roles at Citigroup, HSBC and ABN-AMRO.

Ken Sze has been appointed Head of Investments for Asia, Barclays Private Bank, Singapore. Ken has relocated from London, where, for the past three years, he has been a senior member of Barclays Private Bank Global Investments team as Global Head of the Funds and ETFs business. In his new role, Ken will be responsible for all Private Bank Investments business in the Singapore office.
Jean-Christophe Gerard, CEO, Barclays Private Bank, said: "Asia Pacific is one of the fastest growing regions for wealth and we see significant growth potential."

IQ-EQ

Investor services group IQ-EQ has named Joanna Macleod as its new group chief operating officer.

Macleod will lead IQ-EQ's global operations across all 24 jurisdictions and will be responsible for ensuring that IQ-EQ has a sustainable, compliant and innovative operating platform in place to most effectively serve IQ-EQ's expanding base of clients.

In a year which has seen continued growth in the business including across the US and Asia, she will be driving the transformation required for further expansion.

Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial has announced that Luc Nhon Ly has joined as the chief executive officer of Sun Life Vietnam. The appointment follows the return of former Vietnam CEO Larry Madge to Sun Life's corporate office in Toronto.

Luc brings more than 26 years of expertise to Sun Life in a career spanning executive, finance, strategy, and actuarial roles across Vietnam, Myanmar and Canada.

He joins Sun Life from AIA where he was most recently Chief Executive Officer of AIA Myanmar and prior to that spent 12 years at AIA Vietnam, mostly as the Chief Financial Officer. He has also held roles with ACE Life in Vietnam and Canada Life in Toronto and L'Industrielle-Alliance in Montreal.

Luc is reporting to Ingrid Johnson, Sun Life Asia President, and is a member of the Sun Life Asia Executive team.

Kevin Strain, Sun Life President and chief executive officer said: "Luc joins our Vietnam business at a moment of immense growth and potential. Over the past five years our Client base in Vietnam has more than tripled and sales have more than quadrupled. Luc is a strategic and entrepreneurial leader and highly respected veteran in the Vietnamese market with a proven track record of success. I am confident he will be a tremendous asset to lead the next phase of our journey in Vietnam as we help even more Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives."

Ahli Capital

Ahli Capital Investment Company (Ahli Capital) has announced the appointment of Dr. Husayn Shahrur as the Company's chief executive officer.
Prior to joining Ahli Capital, Dr. Shahrur spent the last 12 years with NBK Capital, where his last position was Managing Director within the Asset Management Group. At NBK Capital, Dr. Shahrur helped transform the business he led from one which offered one single asset class to one which offers clients investment solutions spanning, regional equities, regional fixed-income, global multi-asset exposures and global sukuk.

George Richani, the Group CEO of Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, said: "The appointment of Dr. Shahrur is a testament to the commitment of the ABK Group to empower Ahli Capital to provide its clients with the best-in-class wealth management solutions and other financial services. Husayn's broad international and regional experience will no doubt be of great value to Ahli Capital and ABK Group at large."

Kingsley Napley

Law firm Kingsley Napley LLP has named Matt Spencer as a partner to help build a new Tax practice.

He joins from DAC Beachcroft where he has worked for the last nine years. He advises on the efficient structuring of a wide range of corporate and real estate transactions including M&A, land transfers, developments and leases. He is also expert in employment tax issues and the structuring of employee incentive schemes as well as VAT issues in the public and private sector. He has experience advising clients across a range of sectors from tech to house builders or landlords, and consultancy companies to public bodies.

His arrival follows the appointment of partner Laura Harper in the summer from the London office of McDermott Will & Emery with a background in UK tax, trust law and international estate planning for both UK and non-domiciled individuals.

Together Laura and Matt will develop and lead the firm's tax capabilities, supporting clients from practice areas across the firm including Corporate & Commercial, Real Estate & Construction, Employment, Private Client and Family & Divorce. The intention is to service tax matters in-house more than the firm has done historically and to add further specialists in due course.

Manulife IM

Manulife Investment Management has announced Isaac Meng, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income, and Judy Kwok, Head of Greater China Fixed Income Research, to its strong Asia fixed income team. The new hires are part of the firm's ongoing efforts in strengthening its fixed income research and investment capability and commitment to growing its reach in China.

Based in Hong Kong, Isaac is responsible for managing Manulife Investment Management's China bond strategies. He also works closely with the Asian fixed income team across the region, supplying them with his insights into the China market. Isaac reports to Paula Chan, Senior Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, Asia Fixed Income.

Isaac was previously at PIMCO Asia as Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Macro Strategist and led the firm's China fixed income strategy and macro analysis function as well as interacting with China's regulators and monetary policymakers. Prior to that he was at BNP Paribas Securities Asia as Senior Economist, and before that held various fixed income-related roles at Bank of Montreal and Bank of China.

Also based in Hong Kong, Judy leads the firm's Greater China fixed income research efforts and plays an important role in cementing Manulife Investment Management Asia credit team's leadership in the Asia region. Judy is responsible for managing the credit teams in Greater China, as well as overseeing fixed income research activities in Greater China and North Asia. She also leads the firm's ongoing efforts to drive further collaboration and integration with Manulife-TEDA and to help deliver its growth aspirations across Greater China. Judy reports to Fiona Cheung, Head of Global Emerging Markets Fixed Income Research.

With more than 20 years of credit experience, Judy has extensive knowledge in credit markets in Asia Pacific. She was previously at Bank of Singapore as Director of fixed income research, and before that she served in senior research positions at Fidelity International and First State Investments in Hong Kong.

She began her career as an analyst with the Australia Prudential Regulatory Authority and Standard & Poor's in Australia and Hong Kong.