(26 April 2010 – Asia) Global financial services firm Russell Investments has announced a series of appointments across the Asia Pacific region aimed at strengthening management to cater for growing business demand.Russell Investments has appointed Sasha Mandich as head of Investor Services in New Zealand.
Based in Auckland, Mr Mandich will be responsible for introducing Russell Investment’s products and services, to multi-manager funds, superannuation funds and other institutional investors.
Mr Mandich has been with Russell Investments globally for seven years, recently moving back from Seoul, where he opened the firm’s first Korean office.
In Australia, the firm has expanded its investment consulting business with the appointments of Nicole Connolly as head of alternatives advice and Raewyn Williams as director of after-tax strategies.
Ms Connolly will be responsible for directing Russell’s alternative strategies for consulting clients in Australia and has been appointed as part of the firm’s efforts to deepen capabilities in less traditional strategies such as active commodities, private investments and higher alpha driven strategies.
Ms Williams joins Russell Investments from QIC and will play a leading role in working with clients to develop and implement effective after-tax investment strategies, which is seen by the firm as a key area.
In Asia the firm appointed several senior executives across Singapore and South Korea.
Edmund Teo has joined the global firm as regional director, Sales and Marketing in Singapore and in Taiwan, Joey Chao-Yu Chen has been appointed as director, Business Development.
Mr Chao-Yu has spent more than 17 years with financial companies in the region, including Morgan Stanley and Fidelity.
The additions follow Russell’s recent decision to divide its regional business into three sub-regions and to appoint Mahendran Nathan as Chief Executive of the firm’s operations in ASEAN, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India.
DongKi Kim also joins Russell as Chief Representative of the organisation’s Korea Representative office. Mr Kim will oversee a number of functions including manager research and promotional activities in Korea.
Alan Schoenheimer, Russell’s Chairman for Asia-Pacific, says the appointments are a significant step in Russell’s evolution in Asia and will help the organisation better service a growing client base.