Star Asia Strategist Quits For Family Office

Tara Loader Wilkinson

15 June 2011

A veteran strategist at the Asia business of brokerNewedge has been poached by a family office as co-chief investment officer, as wealthy families increasingly seek exposure to Asia’s burgeoning growth story.

Kirby Daley, senior strategist and head of capital introductions for Newedge Prime Brokerage in Asia, will join a family office outside of the region. He spent a decade with Newedge and was instrumental in setting up the business in Hong Kong which now manages assets of $1.6 billion. Newedge is a global multi-asset broker, a joint venture between French banks Société Générale and Calyon.

It is not yet known which family office Daley has moved to.

According to an internal memo seen by WealthBriefing Asia, Rebekah Pang is taking over Daley's responsibilities as head of capital introductions, Asia. She has been at Newedge Prime Brokerage for nearly three years and was previously at fund of fund house KBC Alpha, where she was working on the hedge fund investment side.

Philippe Teilhard de Chardin, global head of prime brokerage and Daley’s former boss said in the memo: "Kirby effectively established our team in the entire Asia Pacific region. His hard work and strategic insights have served our clients well. He leaves a great legacy in the team he built and managed."

The news comes as wealthy families are increasingly looking to spice up their investment portfolios with exposure to Asia's rocketing economy, where GDP growth in China is expected to hit 9.4 per cent according to Goldman Sachs economists.

For example a clutch of private banks recently launched renminbi-based products in response to demand from clients, including Barclays Wealth; Julius Baer; DBS, Sarasin and Société Générale Private Banking.

However concerns over China's monetary policy could begin to dissuade investors, say analysts. China's central bank yesterday raised banks' reserve requirements for the ninth time in as many months, after inflation hit 5.5 per cent last month. Some analysts are concerned this could indicate further monetary tightening measures are in store.

"We are getting increasingly concerned about growth risk following these aggressive RRR hikes. We doubt if monetary tightening is anywhere close to ending," said Credit Suisse analysts in a report.