Singlife with Aviva

Singlife with Aviva has appointed Allen Kuo as its group deputy chief investment officer. He will strengthen specialist skills within the investment office and provide leadership and guidance as Singlife bolsters its asset management capabilities. 

Based in Singapore, he will also oversee the implementation of Singlife's sustainable investment strategy, reaffirming the company's drive to championing ESG mandates. 

He brings with him over two decades of investment and risk management experience across multiple asset classes — specialising in quantitative finance and investment risk - accumulated from senior stints during his time in the US, China and Hong Kong. 

Prior to joining Singlife he was the director and deputy chief risk officer of University of California's Regents Chief Investment Office, the pension and endowment arm of the institution. He has held senior positions at ING Investment Management as head of investment risk management, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and kickstarted one of the first "green" hedge funds in 2006. 

Kim Rosenkilde, group chief investment officer, Singlife with Aviva, said: "As Singlife continues to make its presence in leading sustainability in financial services, getting the right talent on board and choosing impact investments is key to accelerating our efforts. I have no 

Kuo said: "I am truly honoured to be joining Singlife, having seen the tremendous work that the young but dynamic investment team has accomplished in such a short space of time. I look forward to contributing more towards the Singlife mission of not only finding a better way to financial freedom."

The Singlife Investment Office was established in January 2022 following the formalisation of Singlife with Aviva as a newly merged entity. The team's responsibilities include asset allocation, portfolio optimisation, manager selection and product solutions. 

JTC

JTC has bolstered its senior private client services (PCS) team with the appointments of Chris Fry and Paul Fauvel as directors.

In their new positions, both based in Jersey, they will play key roles in continuing to drive forward JTC's PCS business, with a focus on evolving its cutting-edge service proposition to support the sophisticated needs of global families and private clients.

Fry has more than 20 years' experience in working with private clients, supporting a diverse portfolio of high-net-worth individuals across a range of asset classes and jurisdictions. 

Prior to joining JTC, he worked  for over two decades at another Jersey-based service provider, ending his tenure as Head of Family Office Services, where he played a critical role guiding and supporting global families with their succession, wealth transfer and family business objectives. 

Fauvel has over 25 years' experience working in the international financial services industry, having started his career at Abacus Financial Services where he worked for eighteen years, ultimately with responsibility for their private client division's largest fee client.  While at Abacus he served on this client's parent company board and was involved in the strategy of the structure, which had a turnover in excess of ten billion pounds. 

More recently, Paul has held senior positions working for leading financial wealth management firms, supporting the wealth ambitions of families based in a number of jurisdictions including the UK, USA and Europe, with a particular focus on structuring for Asian clients.  He has expertise across various asset classes including media, property, aircraft and leisure businesses, and he is a member of STEP.

Paul Weir, managing director, Jersey, and Regional Head of Europe within PCS at JTC, said: "As a business with a track record of sustained growth and a reputation for service excellence it is key that we are able to attract people of the highest calibre to maintain the high standards we set ourselves.  This is particularly so as the needs and ambitions of the private clients and globally-dynamic families that JTC supports are becoming increasingly sophisticated and multi-jurisdictional. We are therefore delighted to welcome Chris and Paul to the team.

"Both Chris and Paul bring a huge amount of cross-border experience in the family office and private client space, having led fiduciary teams and managed complex clients and structures. They will both bring considerable insight, knowledge and experience to our senior team in Jersey and within PCS more widely as we continue to evolve and enhance our global proposition."

Amundi

Amundi has named Olivier Brouwers as chief executive officer of Amundi in Belgium, effective 14 November. In this capacity, Olivier is also responsible for business development in Luxembourg.

Brouwers joins Amundi from La Française AM where he was head of business development BeNeLux & Nordics since October 2021. 

Prior to that he briefly worked as an independent consultant for Financial Institutions and Asset Managers before taking on the role CEO at Beflius Investment Partners (BIP) in 2020.

Previous to this, he worked with Invesco Asset Management since 1998 where he occupied several positions in France and Belgium, before being appointed Head of Benelux/France/Nordics Retail & Client Service Business in 2013.

He started his career in 1996 as account manager in the Private Banking Department at Paribas Bank Belgium. 

BNY Mellon Investment Management 

BNY Mellon Investment Management has expanded its intermediary business with a new hire in Hong Kong.

Sharon Ko joins BNY Mellons Investment Management as its head of intermediary business, Hong Kong retail distribution, reporting to Dominic Wong, head of intermediary, Greater China. 

In her new role, Ko will further strengthen and expand the firm's retail distribution networks in Hong Kong. This will include leveraging its various capabilities including its outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) and model portfolio services as well as separately managed accounts.

Ko has over 15 years of financial experience, most recently as the Hong Kong head of retail distribution at Invesco. Previously, she also worked at Fidelity, Blackrock and Allianz Global Investors.

Evelyn Partners 

Evelyn Partners, the leading wealth management and professional services group, has announced the appointment of Jonathan Thornton as a transaction services partner. 

The Transaction Services team, led by Mark Benka, advises private equity firms, corporate clients, banks and family offices, providing financial due diligence and sale and purchase agreement (SPA) advice on transactions and also reporting accountant and assist services (led by Neil Cook) in connection with IPOs and other capital markets transactions.

He  joins Evelyn Partners from Quantuma where he focussed on providing financial due diligence to lower to mid-market private equity firms. Prior to that Jonathan was a partner at PwC focussing on providing financial due diligence to larger private equity firms and family offices.  

He has over 25 years deals experience including extensive periods in both Eastern Europe and the Middle East. 

Mark Benka, head of transaction services at Evelyn Partners, said: "I am delighted that Jonathan is joining us, bringing his breadth of experience and track record. It is an exciting time for our Transaction Services business as we are continuing to see our share of the market increase. 

"We see new clients coming to us on the back of strong reputation for delivering high quality, hands-on and insightful advice. We continue to remain on the lookout to bring further great talent into our team."