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People Moves: Crestbridge, EFG, Value Partners, WH Ireland, Candriam, HSBC, Axa IM

Crestbridge

Crestbridge, the private equity and real estate administration group, has appointed Ross Thomson as director, head of funds services Luxembourg, to lead on Luxembourg's fund services capabilities.

In his new role, Thomson is responsible for overseeing the full range of fund administration services through Crestbridge's Luxembourg office as well as utilising his expertise to support the wider group strategy for growth.

The appointment comes as Crestbridge recently marked ten years operating in Luxembourg, and where in the last year it has doubled is assets under administration and team size, demonstrating the businesses commitment to the jurisdiction and to expanding its Luxembourg service offering.

Prior to joining Crestbridge, Ross was the COO for Carne Global Fund Managers Luxembourg where he was responsible for the daily running of the Management Company and the AIFM.

He is also an experienced global alternative investment funds professional and brings with him over 20 years' experience in both back and middle office roles across UCITS and AIFMD structured funds.

Alex Di Santo, group head of private equity with Crestbridge, said: "Ross' significant industry experience, jurisdictional knowledge and track record in the alternatives space mean he is perfectly placed to support the expansion of our European fund service offering. Luxembourg is a leading funds domicile for global alternative investment fund managers and a strategically important jurisdiction for Crestbridge so I am delighted to welcome Ross to the Crestbridge team."

Ross added: "The emphasis on ESG has driven better regulated jurisdictions to the fore. SDFR is yet another milestone in this story. Governance is increasingly centre stage and is key for our funds platform and Luxembourg as a funds hub. Crestbridge has been ahead of the curve in these areas and I am excited to be working with such a forward thinking team."

EFG

EFG has hired multiple private bankers for its Asia Pacific business, as part of its 2022 strategic plan to drive growth in the region.

Timothy Lo is named as North Asia vice chairman, reporting to APAC executive chairman Albert Chiu.

Lo will work closely with North Asia CEO Kees Stoute and North Asia head of private banking Richard Strauss to support the bank's relationship managers and drive regional business growth.

Lo, who has 35 years of industry experience, previously worked for Credit Agricole Indosuez in Hong Kong where he was deputy CEO and North Asia commercial head since 2017. Prior to that, he was a managing director and North Asia head for CIC Investor Services.

In Hong Kong, EFG has hired eight relationship managers - the bank calls them client relationship officers (CROs) - in including Michelle Wu as managing director and team head, reporting to Strauss.

She will be supported by managing director Ben Chu alongside directors Ashis Sengupta and Ernest Cheung.

Wu has 15 years of wealth management experience, joining most recently from Indosuez where she was a team head.

The Zurich-headquartered private bank also hired three CROs for its Southeast Asia business including managing director Nobuhiro Sano alongside Michael Ting and Yichen Shen.

Nobuhiro is an industry veteran and was most recently the head of wealth management and head of China business strategy at Nomura.
He, Ting and Shen report to head of private banking and deputy CEO of EFG Singapore Oliver Balmelli.

Value Partners Group

Value Partners Group has promoted Edwin Kam as deputy chief investment officer for fixed income investments.
Kam joined Value Partners in 2014 and is a veteran investor with more than 14 years' experience in the financial industry. He has direct portfolio management responsibility and has been working alongside Gordon IP, chief investment officer for fixed income, over the years.

Kam assumed his new role in June 2021 and continues to report to IP.

Gordon IP said: "With his extensive knowledge of the mainland China and Asian markets, particularly in high yield credits and private financing, Edwin has played a key role in strategic investment allocation and the portfolio construction process of the Group's fixed income portfolios."
Prior to joining Value Partners, Kam was at Investec Capital Asia, where he specialized in advising listed companies on restructuring and liquidation matters, debt and equity securities issuance, as well as merger and acquisition transactions. Before that, he was an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in London.

WH Ireland

Former Ofgem chief executive Alistair Buchanan is to step down from the board of WH Ireland.

The firm said the non-executive director will leave by the end of September 2021 in order to "concentrate on other business interests".
Buchanan joined the board in August 2019.

He was formerly chief executive of Ofgem, as well as spending ten years at KPMG where he was UK chairman of power and utilities.

He trained as a chartered accountant and spent time as an analyst for the energy sector. He is currently a non-executive director at Electricity North West and has previously served on the board of Thames Water and Durham University.

Phil Shelley, chairman of WH Ireland, said: "We would like to thank Alistair for his stewardship and guidance at an important time for WH Ireland; his wisdom and insight have been invaluable. We wish him every success for the future."

Candriam

Candriam has appointed David Morley as head of UK distribution, replacing Derek Brander who has left the firm to pursue other opportunities.
Morley will be responsible for leading and developing Candriam's UK distribution business across institutional, wholesale and retail markets supported by an existing team of four.

He will report to Renato Guerriero, chief sales & distribution officer, and will be based in London.

Morley has a track record and experience across UK institutional, wholesale and retail markets. Prior to joining Candriam, he was country head UK at Eaton Vance Investment Managers for six years. Morley also worked at Lombard Odier Investment Managers and at Henderson Global Investors, where he was director of institutional business for the UK for ten years.

Guerriero said: "We are delighted to welcome David to the Candriam team. We are confident that his experience in distribution management will help strengthen our position in the UK market, particularly at a time of increased demand for sustainable investments. Candriam has a longstanding reputation for responsible investing.

"Having launched our first ESG strategy in 1996, today we have one of the largest ESG offerings available in Europe."

HSBC

HSBC Asset Management has appointed Taras Pushak as portfolio manager for its Emerging Markets Debt (EMD) investment team. Based in London, Taras joined on 5 May and reports to Bryan Carter, Head of Global Emerging Markets Debt.

In his new role, Taras will be responsible for managing the firm's EMD Total Return strategies, and generating EMD macroeconomic views and themes for implementation across its EMD investment portfolios.

With over 20 years' experience, Taras joins from APG Asset Management, where he was a senior portfolio manager responsible for selecting and monitoring strategies managed by external managers within APG's EMD investment pool.

Prior to that, he spent four years as a portfolio manager and senior analyst at EMSO Partners (now Emso Asset Management). Taras has also held roles at Citigroup, and before that was an economist at the World Bank.

Carter said: "Taras has deep portfolio management experience across all segments of EMD and brings with him an in-depth knowledge of the European asset owner space, and the competitive EMD manager landscape. His talents and experience will amplify the breadth of alpha sources available for our EMD portfolios and complement the investment team's current strengths in issuer and country selection with an ESG emphasis based on our fundamental research and tools."

AXA IM

AXA IM has appointed three new executives to support its business momentum in the Americas spanning its Institutional, Wholesale/Retail and Sub-Advisory businesses, which positions the firm for future growth and new clients in the US, Mexico and Latin America.

Florian Bezault was named Head of AXA IM Americas and Regional CFO Americas, after more than a decade of leadership roles within AXA Group.

Strengthening the sales and distribution team in the region, Beatriz Barros de Lis was appointed Head of Client Group Americas, Core after 11 years at the helm of AXA IM Spain and Portugal.

Jose Manuel Fernandez, Senior Sales Manager, joined AXA IM Mexico recently from Grupo Financiero Monex to support the firm's continued commitment to clients in Mexico.

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