As 2024 kicks off, SRP looks back at the most relevant people moves stories in 2023 highlighting new hires and exits at the main issuers of structured products across markets.

HSBC

In January 2023, HSBC appointed Vivek Kumar (right) as global head of FX and derivatives platforms & product management at HSBC based in Singapore.

He joined from Standard Chartered Bank, with his most recent role being executive director, head of products (FX, interest rate and commodity) within the capital market product and solutions (CMPS) unit since February 2018. He started his career at Barclays as a business analyst in FX, rate and credit based in Singapore and Hong Kong SAR.

In this newly created role, Kumar reports to Fidelis Oruche, managing director, global head of capital markets and investments and wealth solutions (IWS) platforms, global private banking and wealth at HSBC, also based in Singapore.

In February, Vis Nayar was appointed global chief investment officer (CIO), equities at HBSC Global Asset Management based in London. He has been at HSBC for over 16 years in various positions, most recently as European and UK CIO. The seasoned banker’s experience includes research and portfolio management roles in equities, fixed income, structured products and impact/ESG investment.

Nayar joined HSBC in 2007 from Halbis Capital Management, where he developed a quantitative equity strategy within a multi-strategy hedge fund in New York. Prior to that, he worked as an equity risk analyst at BNP Paribas in London.

In September, Ilyas Amlani (right) was appointed as head of equity linked Americas and Europe, Middle East & Africa (Emea). Joined HSBC in 2013 and was promoted to head of equity linked Emea in 2019, Amlani relocated from London to New York for his new role and remains oversight of EMEA equity-linked business while extending his remit to provide renewed focus on the bank’s origination efforts in the Americas.

He reports to Alfred Traboulsi, head of capital financing and investment banking coverage (CFIBC) Americas, on an entity basis and functionally to Nick Bevan, global co-head of strategic equity & financing.

HSBC also appointed Dan Kosary as head of equity linked Europe. Kosary will retain his broader origination responsibility as part of the strategic equity & financing team, reporting to Bevan on an entity basis and to Amlani functionally. He continues to be based in London.

Also, the same month, the UK bank announced Lok Yim (right) to become its regional head of global private banking, Asia Pacific (Apac) on a designated basis on 1 November. Yim joined Deutsche Bank and succeeded Siew Meng Tan, who is retiring after an almost 40-year career in banking. Tan has been in the role for seven years during her 20 years at HSBC.

At Deutsche, Yim most recently served as CEO, Hong Kong SAR and had spearheaded the bank’s wealth management and international private banking franchises in Asia and emerging markets. He had also held senior roles at Citi. At HSBC, he reports to Annabel Spring, CEO, global private banking and wealth, on a functional basis and Kai Zhang, head of wealth and personal banking, South Asia on an entity basis at HSBC.

In October, HSBC announced Geoff Simmons’ appointment as head of equity & quantitative investment strategies (QIS) structuring, Americas, after almost nine years at Société Générale (SG) where he held a number of senior roles including head of QIS structuring Americas and head of EQD QIS structuring global in London and New York. Based in New York, Simmons reports to Thibaut de Rocquigny, HSBC’s global head of equity structuring, who is based in Hong Kong SAR.

Also the same month, Richard Morris (right) joined HSBC as senior vice president, QIS sales with a mandate to grow the bank’s QIS franchise in the US fixed index annuity (FIA) and registered index-linked annuity (Rila) markets. Based in New York, he reports to Dave Odenath (right), global head of QIS sales.

Most recently, Morris was director in QIS at Deutsche Bank in the US from June 2021. Prior to that, he spent 10 years at RBC Capital Markets building institutional equity derivatives (EQD) sales coverage with a focus on insurance companies and asset managers.

In December, Racquel Oden joined HSBC as head of wealth and personal banking (WPB), responsible for overseeing the bank’s wealth management, global private banking and retail businesses in the U.S. Based in New York, Oden reports to Michael Roberts, CEO, US and Americas, and Juan Parma, head of wealth and personal banking Americas.

She joined from J.P. Morgan, where she most recently served as head of network expansion for consumer banking after leading national sales and the Northeast division for both consumer banking and wealth management. Previously, she was with Merrill Lynch, UBS, and Morgan Stanley in equity trading.

ING

In March, Jan Talsma (right) was appointed as director, client solutions group (CSG) investment solutions for Emea within its financial markets business at the Dutch bank, aiming to drive the division’s growth pillars, EQD, structured notes, and sprinters to ING’s financial institution clients. Based in Amsterdam, he reports to Zico Yeh, who has been heading the CSG investment solutions Emea team since November 2022.

Talsma joined ING from Citigroup, where he has worked for 19 years in different roles, dealing with EQD, cross asset solutions sales and structured products on both the buy side and sell side.

J.P. Morgan

In July, Paul Thompson was promoted as the US banking giant’s new head of Singapore and Southeast Asia for its private bank division. Thompson, who led Hong Kong and Philippines division, relocated to Singapore aimed his new role. He now reports to Kam Shing Kwang, CEO at J.P. Morgan’s private bank in Asia.

He has been with the bank since 200 and held various senior positions, including portfolio analyst and head of investment team for Hong Kong and the Philippines. Thompson replaced James Wey, who remained with the firm until September to ensure a seamless transition.

Image: Bluraz/Adobe Stock.