PineBridge Investments, the US-based investment management firm, has appointed Desmond Tjiang as managing director, portfolio manager for Greater China and Hong Kong.

Tjiang has 15 years of Asian equities experience and joins the company from BNP Paribas Investment Parntners, where he was chief investment officer and deputy head of Asia ex-Japan equities. Before that, he spent seven years at the Hong Kong and Shanghai offices of Fortis and was also a senior equity analyst for North Asia at UBS Wealth Management. 

At this new role, he reports directly to Robin Thorn, the global head of equities. Thorn has just recently relocated from the New York headquarters to Hong Kong to focus on PineBridge equities' business in the Asian region. 

"Asia has been a critical market and [the company's growth] represents a significant opportunity for future expansion," said Thorn in a statement. 

PineBridge has $77.9 billion in assets under management as of 30 June 2011.