WealthBriefingAsia Awards 2017

William Ahern established Family Capital Conservation in 2008 to focus on providing independent strategic advice to families and intermediaries in complex tax succession and legacy planning. The firm is founded on Bill’s 20 years experience in Hong Kong and across Asia in the areas of complex tax, succession and legal issues.

Bill’s early career was formed at Hong Kong law firm, Deacons, before he moved to Brisbane. He returned to Hong Kong in 1999 to work in a private client law firm, becoming a director of trust and legal affairs at an international trust company after that. He was managing partner at HSBC’s private bank’s tax advisory arm until 2008.

Mario brings extensive experience to the industry as senior advisor driving sales and business initiatives in Asia Pacific for UHNWI/FO service providers. He draws upon his detailed understanding from roles such as global head of business management for ANZ Private Bank in Australasia, where he defined and delivered the strategic and operational needs for the business.

Previously Mario worked for leading wealth managers such as Vontobel, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, holding positions across a variety of disciplines including relationship management, business and financial planning, training and development, strategy, business development and marketing communications in both Europe and Asia. He was also managing director for Solution Providers Management Consulting, leading its growth in Asia Pacific, specifically Singapore.

He wrote and published his Ph.D. thesis about the supervision of External Asset Managers [EAM] in Switzerland (“Der bankunabhängige Vermögensverwalter: Analyse des Handlungsbedarfs einer möglichen Aufsicht unter Berücksichtigung des amerikanischen und englischen Rechts”), build up/out of various EAM desks in Switzerland and Singapore and serviced this segment.

Mr. Cox has been active as an international lawyer based principally in the United States since 1976, advising families and businesses (including financial service companies) concerning governance, structuring, and transactional matters. His business activities have included family office advisory services and participation in the launch and development of a publicly listed Japanese asset management company, together with its many investment structures and client relationships. He became an advisor to British and Malayan Trustees in Singapore during 2012 and assumed the role of executive director and CEO in 2014.

Christiaan De Bruyn is director of trust services for the Trident Trust Group in Hong Kong, a leading independent provider of corporate, fiduciary and fund administration services with offices in 24 jurisdictions. He focuses on trustee services to family business owners and corporate pension funds, both in Hong Kong and through the other Trident Trust offices. Christiaan is a chartered accountant with 29 years experience, the first 12 years working as an auditor for Deloitte in South Africa and the Benelux, the next 12 years’ working in the fiduciary industry in Jersey and the last five years in Hong Kong.

Hans Diederen is head, family office services at Heritage Trust in Singapore where he advises Asian business families on succession planning.

Hans has over 23 years of experience in financial services in both corporate banking and wealth management and has been based in Asia since 2006.   In his last role he was CEO Asia for Credit Agricole Suisse and prior to that managing director, head of South East Asia at Merrill Lynch.

For ABN AMRO Hans worked in Brazil, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Gibraltar, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Hans is a Dutch national and graduated from Erasmus University Rotterdam with a Master’s degree in Commerce and Business Administration.

Richard Grasby is a Partner in Appleby’s Hong Kong office, leading the Private Client, Trusts and Family Office practice.

Richard advises trustees, ultra-high net worth individuals, private trust companies and family offices on the establishment, restructuring and administration of trusts, including special trusts i.e. BVI VISTA, Cayman STAR and Employee Benefit Trusts. He regularly assists in estate administration, succession planning and family governance. Private clients and family offices instruct Richard to advise on the use of corporate vehicles for asset holding and succession planning purposes. Richard is an expert in regulatory law including AML, AEOI, economic substance and licensing and risk management for trust companies. He also advises on collective investment funds, particularly unit trusts and private label funds.

Richard has acted for many of the world’s leading trust companies, financial institutions, wealthy individuals and related structures. He has experience with dealing with clients and advisors across the globe.

Richard has over 20 years’ post qualification experience with the majority spent in offshore firms. Richard has lived and worked in Jersey, London, the Cayman Islands and (since 2009) Hong Kong. He is admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales and the British Virgin Islands and is a Registered Foreign Lawyer in Hong Kong. He has also been admitted as an Attorney in the Cayman Islands.

Richard is an active member of STEP. He has been on the local executive committee since 2012 and is a former chair. He is on the global steering committees for the Business Families and International Client Special Interest Groups. He is a member of the Academic Community.

Richard is an elected Academician of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (the only such offshore practitioner in APAC). He is also a Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist.

Richard is a lecturer on trusts and family offices for the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute and for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

He is a member of the Hong Kong Trustee Association, the Family Firm Institute the International Bar Association and the Investment Migration Council.

Richard is an active speaker at events across the world and a writer for many journals.

Jonathan Hollands is an experienced execu­tive search professional and as managing director of Carraway Group covers all areas of the wealth management sector across the Asia-Pacific region. Jonathan began his career as a headhunter in 1998 when he focused on the German and Swiss markets. Before his return to Asia 12 years ago, Jonathan covered senior management positions across central and eastern Europe. Jonathan’s recent successes in the wealth management sector include placing a head of onshore private banking, securing managing director level relationship managers, a head of Hong Kong, senior advisory specialists, China focused bankers and C level officers. Prior to entering executive search Jonathan was a British Army Officer in the 14th/20th Kings Hussars serving in Operation Desert Storm 1991 and in Brunei and Hong Kong in the late 1980’s.

Antoinette is a partner in PwC Hong Kong’s financial services practice and currently leads its private banking group. She has over 20 years of professional experience in Hong Kong and New Zealand and works with many lead­ing multinational banks. She has extensive experience on industry developments and challenges faced by private banking clients. Antoinette leads a number of statutory audits for local and international private banks. She has also led a number of advisory projects with private banking clients, including KYC/AML reviews, governance reviews, business risk management reviews, regulatory reviews and integration assistance. Antoinette is a member of the accreditation & exemption committee of the Private Wealth Management Association in Hong Kong.

Mimi Hutton has over 30 years experience advising in Asia on charities and philanthro­py matters, and US and Hong Kong trust and tax affairs for individuals, families and financial institutions. She is a Hong Kong and US qualified lawyer. Mimi advises clients on the creation of charitable structures and on their ongoing philanthropy. She also advises charities on tax and structuring and governance matters. She works with clients who have US family members who are investing in the US, moving to the US or expatriating. Mimi also advises in connection with international probate matters, including matters in which the estate owns US assets and/or has US beneficiaries. She also assists clients who have US citizenship or green card status on trust and estate planning strategies.

Professor Francis Koh is Emeritus Professor of Finance and the Founding Director of the MSc in Wealth Management Programme at the Singapore Management University.

He is an Independent Non-Executive Director of Manulife US Real Estate Management Pte Ltd and China Taiping Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd. Employed by the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation between 1994- 2002, he was involved in investment projects in various countries, including China, Thailand and Indonesia. He is active in consulting, executive development and public service. He was conferred with the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2013. In 2012, Francis was awarded an honorary doctorate (honoris causa) in economics by the University of St Gallen. In 2016, Francis was honoured with the lifetime achievement award by WealthBriefingAsia.

Philip Marcovici is retired from the practice of law and consults with governments, financial institutions and global families in relation to tax, wealth management and other matters. Philip was the founder and CEO of LawInContext (now called Baker McKenzie Link), the interactive knowledge venture of global law firm, Baker & McKenzie. Philip retired from his CEO role with the company as from the end of 2010, and from his chairmanship of the company as from the end of 2011. He was a partner of Baker & McKenzie, a firm he joined in 1982, and practiced in the area of international taxation throughout his legal career. Philip was based in the Hong Kong office of Baker & McKenzie for 12 years, relocating to the Zurich office of Baker & McKenzie in 1995. Philip has also practiced law in each of New York and Vancouver, British Columbia. Philip retired from Baker & McKenzie at the end of 2009.

The Hon. Philippe A. May is a part of the inception of the Arton Capital office in Singapore and oversees the Asia Pacific Region. His career began as a portfolio manager for Asian Equities at Credit Suisse in Zurich. After his move to Singapore he became vice president of EFG Private Bank and director of VP Bank. Mr. May is a Swiss-certified financial planner and banking specialist. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and studied Chinese at Jiao Tong University in Shanghai. In 2011 the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines appointed him as its Honorary Consul to Singapore.

Michael was previously the partner in charge of Baker McKenzie’s tax group in Asia. At the firm, Michael focused on estate and succession planning for high net worth individuals. His practice also involved general corporate tax advice, tax disputes and litigation and stamp duty matters. He focused on Asia generally and Hong Kong specifically. Michael sits on the executive committee of the Hong Kong branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and chairs its China sub-committee. He is also a member of STEP’s global Board and Council. Additionally, he is the Chairman of the Joint Liaison Committee on Taxation in Hong Kong and sits on the board of the International Fiscal Association's branch in Hong Kong. He has been a full-time lecturer in the Law Faculty of Hong Kong University and remains a visiting lecturer in tax law there.

Patrycja is an executive director in EY’s financial advisory practice, specialising in digital transformation. She has over 14 years of work experience with focus on digital, customer experience, and multi-channel strategies. She is an expert in wealth management, specifically focused on CRM and digital strategies. Patrycja has worked on a number of large-scale transformation projects across clients in Europe and Asia. Her experience includes target operating model design, business architecture, multi-channel banking solutions, customer experience, sales and service process design.  Prior to EY, Patrycja worked for Accenture in Hong Kong and London.

Steven Seow is the founder and executive director of Singapore Consultancy. He has more than 16 years of working experience in banking and consulting. Prior to running Singapore Consultancy, he was the Asia head of wealth management for Mercer (2013-2017) and a director in EY Advisory (2008-2013). Over the course of his career, he has also worked in Citi Private Bank, IBM, PwC Consulting and Odyssey.

Michiel is a director in PwC’s consulting practice. He has 20 years of experience working with banking clients across Asia and Europe and leads the Southeast Asia wealth management team in consulting.

Michiel has delivered numerous engagements with a variety of private banks in Asia supporting them in transforming their business and preparing them for the digital age. He is a recognised thought leader in areas like digital and channel transformation, sales productivity and customer management, and a frequent speaker at internal and customer events. Publications include the Digital Tipping Point, Digital Customer Advocacy in Singapore Banking and PwC’s private banking and wealth management survey.

Bruce is a chartered accountant with over 37 years financial services experience, previously a partner in PwC, latterly as Global leader of their Wealth Management practice and the key driver of their bi-annual Wealth Management Report. Bruce is now CEO of Weatherill Consulting providing advice on client centricity and wider strategic matters to wealth managers. He is the author of The Value of Trust: the quest by Wealth Managers for Trusted Advisor status and a number of other thought leadership reports. Bruce is chairman of ClearView Financial Media and a non-executive of a number of companies including Fidelity Holdings UK, The Wisdom Council, ComPeer, JDX Consulting and Ten Group.

Mr. Weisman has occupied various leadership positions within the Baker McKenzie, including as Head of Baker McKenzie’s Global Tax Practice Group and as a member of Baker McKenzie’s Global Executive Committee. He is a frequent speaker on international tax issues, and is an active participant in internal and external programs, including those by Baker McKenzie and the Tax Executives Institute. Mr. Weisman is a governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and has also served on the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong branch of the International Fiscal Association.

Pierre-F. Baer is the CEO of IBBM, a private equity fund manager and acts as independent advisor to UHNW individuals. Prior to this Pierre was co-head Asia and CEO of Societe Generale’s private banking entity in Singapore responsible for ASEAN and the Indian subcontinent. He sat on the board of Societe Generale’s trust company in Asia. Before joining SG Private Banking in 2003, Pierre was the CEO of Credit Suisse Private Banking Singapore supervising south-east Asia.

A financial veteran with over 25 years of experience in the banking industry, Pierre has worked in Switzerland, Malaysia and Singapore assisting both institutional and UHNW investors.

Drawing upon his extensive leadership experience and industry knowledge, Arjan is responsible for the entire products and services offering in Asia and overlooks the regional investment strategy.

Arjan started his financial career with Hollandsche Bank Unie (HBU), serving Private, Corporate and Institutional clients within a dealing room environment, and subsequently became Head of Treasury & Special Products Private Clients in the Netherlands. He has over 14 years of experience with ABN AMRO Private Banking, of which more than 7 years were spent in Asia. In early 2006, he relocated to Singapore to take up the position of Regional Head of Treasury & Special Products for Private Banking in Asia with ABN AMRO. With his strong understanding of the needs of Asian clients, Arjan moved to Hong Kong in April 2010 and was appointed Head of Private Banking for North Asia. Following this, he was appointed Head of North Asia at ANZ Private Bank before being appointed Head of Integration for ANZ Retail & Private Wealth Asia in April 2016. Arjan was appointed Head of Markets, Investments & Structuring, Asia at Indosuez Wealth Management in February 2017, initially based in Hong Kong and as of August 2022 based in Singapore.

Arjan graduated with a Master of Science in Business Economics from Nyenrode University, the Netherlands.

Ong Yeng Fang is managing director and head of UOB Private Bank with global responsibility for UOB’s private banking business.

Ms Ong started her career at DBS as a trainee officer in 1989 where she spent 17 years, rising to the position of managing director of the firm’s consumer product sector of corporate and investment banking services.

She moved into private banking in August 2006 joining Bank Julius Baer as managing director (senior advisor). Thereafter she spent four years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) before joining UOB Private Bank in June 2014.

Ms Ong holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance and Marketing) from the National University of Singapore.

Rolf Gerber lives in Singapore where he holds a number of board positions having retired after almost four decades in the finance industry at the end of 2016. Rolf joined LGT Bank in 2002 to establish a banking platform for the bank in Singapore. His last role was chairman of LGT Bank (Singapore). Before joining LGT he worked at UBS Investment Banking for over 20 years in various leadership positions in Zurich, London, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore.

After having worked for KPMG Luxembourg in the audit sector, Christian joined Intertrust Luxembourg in 2007 as head of finance where he was responsible for the corporate accounting team. In 2009, he was appointed as director of finance and subsequently as director of finance and operations, member of management, being responsible for the corporation’s finances and facilities management.

In 2012, Christian joined Intertrust Hong Kong as chief operating officer, where he has been responsible amongst others for finance and operations, strategic projects, risk management and internal control. Christian is a native German speaker and he is also fluent in French and English and has a working knowledge of Dutch. In 2015, Christian was appointed as managing director, Greater China.

Rob Ioannou joined DBS Private Bank as managing director and head of international in July 2016.  His responsibilities include the Global South Asia and non-resident Indian teams, and cover Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as the Japan International segment.  Rob serves on DBS’s regional wealth management committee.

Prior to joining DBS, Rob was co-head of HSBC’s Private Bank for Southeast Asia and a director of HSBC Trust Company Singapore.

A career private banker with over 20 years of financial services experience, Rob started his career with Citibank in London, after which he moved to J.P Morgan as a senior coverage private banker for UHNW and international clients.

Ranjit Khanna is head of the South Asia region and non-resident Indian clients for Asia and Middle East at Union Bancaire Privée.

Based in Singapore, Ranjit is responsible for driving the strategic growth agenda for UBP's Southeast Asian business covering Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.   In addition, he also leads the non-resident Indian segment across Asia and the Middle East.  Ranjit has over 25 years of experience in the banking sector. Prior to UBP’s acquisition of Coutts in Asia where he was the South Asia and Global NRI head, Ranjit served as managing director, private banking at Bank Sarasin Alpen in Dubai.

Kwong Kin-Mun joined Deutsche Bank as head of wealth management SEA in late 2009 after seven years as head of South Asia private banking with DBS Bank.  He has 30 years of wealth management industry experience.  Kin-Mun is also a member if WM APAC executive committee.

He is responsible for a group of over 140 client-facing professionals of which half are relationship managers and investment advisors providing tailored wealth management solutions to HNW/UHNW clients mainly based within the Southeast Asia region.

Jeroen Kwist is the managing director responsible for BNY Mellon International Wealth Management’s APAC and European regions. As such he oversees the firm’s current business activity while also leading the execution of its organic and strategic growth strategy across Asia and Europe.

With nearly 19 years experience in management consultancy and wealth management, Jeroen came to his current role from BNY Mellon International Wealth Management where his responsibilities embraced business development and strategy. Before that he worked in BNY Mellon’s US Wealth Management business. Jeroen joined BNY Mellon from a local US wealth management firm where he managed both US and international clients.

Philippe is CEO and co-founder of LCA Solutions, an award winning multi-family office that services high net worth clients as a one stop solution. Beyond a standard wealth management offering and corporate advisory solutions for the family business, LCA offers family governance guidance and also provides a forum to source answers to numerous non-financial issues (succession & generational transfer, legal structuring, immigration, family charters etc.).

Philippe has accumulated more than 30 years of senior management experience with international banks in private, corporate and investment banking.

Before founding LCA in 2010, he developed the Asian private banking platform for Rabobank/Sarasin in the late 1990s and subsequently headed the private banking North Asian operations of ABN AMRO. He was previously deputy CEO of BNP Paribas Wealth Management, North Asia, a group for whom he worked for over 13 years.

Based in Hong Kong since 1995 he has also worked in Europe, North America and India; Philippe is a regular speaker at wealth management and asset management conferences in Asia as well as being a judge for various awards within the industry.

Philippe won the Asian WealthBriefing 2017 Award for “Outstanding contribution to wealth management thought leadership”.

Ms. Loh has specialised in the private client industry for more than 20 years, with experience as a trust and tax lawyer before moving into the private banking sector, setting up and managed private trusts for ultra-high net-worth families in Hong Kong and Taiwan; and their philanthropic vision. Jacqueline has recently joined Ogier in Hong Kong as Director, Head of Private Wealth, Asia. Jacqueline is a Member of Law Society of Ontario, Law Society of Hong Kong and Law Society of England and Wales and Member of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

She is a former Chairman of STEP's Hong Kong branch and continues to have material involvement as Council Member.

Simon is a veteran wealth planner and private banker with more than 25 years of experience in wealth planning, trustee administration and private banking. Previously he was the Managing Director, Private Banking, North Asia and Wealth Solution, Asia, for Bank of Montreal for over 5 years.  Prior to that, he was the managing director and head of RBC Wealth Management’s Trust Company - Asia for almost 20 years, as well as the head of their private banking business in Hong Kong for about 16 years.

Britta joined Rothschild Trust in 2000 and is managing director of Rothschild Trust Asia Pacific. Her focus is on business strategy development and key client relationships in the region.

Britta is a German-trained barrister with 23 years trust (Credit Suisse Trust and Rothschild Trust) and tax (PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax & Legal, CMS Hasche Sigle) experience.

Britta is a distinguished fellow at INSEAD in the area of family office, under INSEAD’s global private equity initiative, as well as  a frequent lecturer at international conferences and author of various articles on tax and estate planning matters and holds an executive degree in mergers and acquisitions from Stanford University. She received the award “Leading Individual Financial Services” in Singapore from WealthBriefingAsia in 2016.

Ian has held various senior regional management roles at Julius Baer, HSBC Private Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, Republic National Bank of New York and VP Bank. He has extensive experience in the wealth management industry and the region, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Bernard, a former lawyer, has extensive experience in wealth structuring, corporate and family governance, corporate finance and financial markets. Before taking up his current role, Bernard was the global head of HSBC’s private trust and succession planning business and the regional head Asia-Pacific of HSBC Private Bank.

Bernard is past chairman of the private banking sub-committee of the Hong Kong Association of Banks, past chairman of the Hong Kong Branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, past chairman of the Hong Kong Trustees' Association. He has also served as a member of the Financial Services Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and as a member of the Joint Liaison Committee on Trust Law Reform (HK).

Bassam Salem is a private banking and asset management veteran with over 30 years of experience in launching and building businesses, client servicing, and product innovation. In his role as region head of Citi Private Bank, he oversees 13 markets and 650 professionals that serve one third of Asia’s (ex-Japan) billionaires.

Mr. Salem started his career with Citi in Geneva in 1985 and held various senior positions in the private bank and investments in Switzerland, Singapore and New York. Prior to his current role, Bassam was a founding partner and CEO Middle East & India for EFG Bank.

Joseph Tam joined Wing Lung Bank in May 2014 as the head of private banking & wealth management. Joseph is responsible for the management and development of the overall private banking business of the bank including trust services.

With over 20 years experience in the private banking and corporate banking industries, Joseph has extensive experience in providing wealth management advisory to HNW individuals and families. Prior to joining Wing Lung Bank, Joseph worked in private wealth management at Credit Suisse and HSBC Private Bank.

Anton Wong is Head of Taiwan Market based in Hong Kong.  Along with his team of Relationship Managers, he supports and services clients of Taiwanese descent in the region.

This is in addition to his extended responsibility of articulating the Next Generation strategy for the bank, which he continues to champion along with other key stakeholders.

Joining the Bank in 2011, and prior to his current role, Anton headed the Key Client Group in Asia with a focus on the bank’s Ultra High Net Worth proposition. He oversaw the private bank’s cross-selling efforts with Corporate & Institutional Bank and other business lines, and brought customized solutions to this client segment.

He is also a member of BNP Paribas’ Hong Kong CSR Committee.  He is actively engaged in the promotion of the arts and inclusive activities for disabled artists through his involvement in local NGOs.

Anton obtained his bachelor and master degrees in accountancy from the University of Illinois, and an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School.

Vicky Wong is head of key client solutions with LGT Bank in Hong Kong where she is responsible for assisting Asian-based clients with the non-investment aspects of their wealth planning. Vicky also plays a key role in developing LGT’s Asian business and serves on LGT’s executive board Asia.

Prior to joining LGT Group, Vicky was an executive director at Goldman Sachs (Asia) for over 10 years. Before that, she practiced private client law, first with Stikeman Elliott, and then with Bryan Cave. Vicky is a licensed attorney in California and Washington, U.S.A, a licensed barrister and solicitor in British Columbia, Canada, and a member of the Law Societies of Hong Kong, and England and Wales.