Manulife
Manulife has announced it will unite its global wealth and asset management businesses.
Paul Lorentz, who has been with Manulife since 1993, will lead this segment as head of Global Wealth and Asset Management, effective 1 October. He succeeds Kai Sotorp, who has decided to retire after joining the firm’s asset management division in 2014.
Other changes announced by the company include the appointment of Anil Wadhwani as president and chief executive of Manulife Asia, effective 13 November.
Marianne Harrison has been appointed president and chief executive of John Hancock, Manulife’s US business, effective 1 October. She is currently president and chief executive of Manulife Canada.
Michael Doughty will succeed Harrison at Manulife Canada, also effective 1 October. Doughty has been interim president and chief executive of John Hancock since May.
Steve Roder, Manulife’s chief financial officer, has decided to retire for personal reasons, effective 31 December. As a result, Philip Witherington, currently interim president and chief executive of Manulife Asia, has been appointed Roder’s successor and will start his new job on 1 January 2018, subject to immigration approvals.
Earlier in May, Manulife president and chief executive Donald Guloien announced he was retiring on 30 September.
Senior executive vice-president and general manager of Manulife’s Asia division Roy Gori will become chief executive and join Manulife’s board of directors on 1 October.
JP Morgan Asset Management
JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) has appointed one of chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond’s special advisers as its chief market strategist for Europe and UK.
Karen Ward, currently chair of the Council of Economic Advisers for the Exchequer, will join JPMAM shortly after the Autumn Budget, reporting to the firm’s US-based chief global strategist, David Kelly.
She replaces Stephanie Flanders who left JPMAM in June to lead a team of journalists and researchers for Bloomberg Economics.
Lombard International Assurance
Life insurer Lombard International Assurance has hired Paul Upchurch for the newly created role of chief operating officer responsible for advancing digital innovation, operations and capital investments across Europe.
Based in Luxembourg, Upchurch will lead a multi-disciplinary team including client services, investment administration, IT and change functions.
He joins from Blackstone, where he served as executive director in their portfolio operations group. He will report to Axel Hörger, the firm’s chief executive for Europe.
HSBC Insurance
HSBC Insurance Asia and HSBC Life International, collectively known as “HSBC Insurance” have announced the appointment of Edward Moncreiffe as the firms’ Hong Kong chief executive to oversee HSBC’s insurance and pension business in the Chinese special administrative region.
Sanlam UK
UK wealth management business Sanlam UK has a new head of UK distribution in the person of John Pyburn, starting 13 September.
The manager will develop the firm’s distribution strategy and capability; in particular, he will support the delivery of its proposition to advisers who are part of the firm’s partnership programme, Sanlam Partners which was launched earlier this year.
Prior to joining Sanlam UK, Pyburn has held senior roles at State Street Global Advisors, Canada Life, Abbey for Intermediaries (now Santander) and more recently Just Retirement, where he spent more than eight years as director of intermediary sales.
Sarasin & Partners
Asset management group Sarasin & Partners has appointed Natasha Landell-Mills as a partner and head of stewardship, effective 1 September 2017.
Landell-Mills oversees the integration of environment, social and governance (ESG) considerations into the investment process, including ownership activities.
She joined Sarasin & Partners in 2013 with a background in development economics and responsible long-term investment. Before moving into finance, spent a number of years working on sustainable development issues in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Brewin Dolphin
Wealth manager Brewin Dolphin has hired former UBS Wealth Management adviser Tom Colburn as a director in its London office.
After eight years as a private client adviser and executive director at UBS Wealth Management, Colburn will join Brewin as divisional director in the capital. He is a chartered wealth manager and has worked with high-net worth clients for 17 years.
Malaysia Securities Commission
The Malaysia Securities Commission has appointed Salmah Bee Mohd Mydin as director of intermediary and fund supervision.
Bee will be in charge of supervising market intermediaries, such as authorisation and licensing.
Separately, Kamarudin Hashim, who formerly led the intermediary and fund supervision team, has been appointed as executive director of the market and corporate supervision business group, overseeing the institution supervision, corporate surveillance, market surveillance and risk analysis departments.
Etiqa Takaful
Etiqa Takaful, the insurance business of Malaysian banking group Maybank, hired Zafri Ab Halim as its new chief executive with effect from 1 September.
Ab Halim reports directly to Maybank chief Kamaludin Ahmad, and is responsible for driving the insurance business and overseeing the performance of Etiqa Takaful in Malaysia.
Prior to this appointment, industry veteran Ab Halim worked at Malaysia National Insurance, now known as Etiqa Insurance, for 14 years at the start of his 25-year career.
Unigestion
Boutique asset manager Unigestion announced it has hired Frank Maret as head of Marketing to reboot the company’s digital strategy and initiatives to engage with clients.
Maret joins from Canada Life Investments, where he was head of distribution for six years.
Sanne
Jersey-based alternative asset and corporate administration services provider Sanne has bolstered its alternative assets business with a senior appointment in its private equity team.
Oliver Morris joins the firm in the role of head of private equity for the Emea region. His primary focus will be to refine and drive the strategic direction, management and delivery of Sanne’s private equity business in the region, with a specific focus on developing new business initiatives.
Morris is a former technical director at the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA).
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown has hired the former editor of AOL Money as a personal finance analyst, joining the firm’s PR team.
