UBS Global Asset Management, the asset management arm of Swiss banking giant UBS, named a new head of investment strategy for its Australia business.

Tracey McNaughton joined the Australasia team to focus on local economic and investment research. In addition, she has become part of the Australian Investment Committee.

McNaughton was previously a senior investment specialist at Colonial First State, where she worked for three years. Prior to that, she held specialist roles at Ballie Gifford, BT Investment Management, Westpac and Credit Suisse First Boston. Taking over from Mark Rider, who moved to ANZ four months ago, she now reports to Bryce Doherty, head of UBS GAM in Australasia.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch appointed a new chief executive and country executive for Australia.

Kevin Skelton is now the head of the Australia business, taking over from James Barrett-Lennard, who served as acting country executive. Barrett-Lennard continues as chief operating officer for Australia and will work closely with Skelton.

A veteran banker, Skelton brings over 25 years of experience working at the firm's New York, London, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney offices. He most recently served as head of Australia investment banking. In his new role, he also becomes a member of the Asia-Pacific executive committee.

Guardian Advice, the Australian life risk specialist dealer group, strengthened its presence in Queensland with a new state manager.

Andrew Hammelmann joined the firm after serving as practice development manager for MLC and NAB Financial Planning. He was also Queensland state manager for compliance at MLC, where he specialised in guiding advisors' business practices and quality of advice. Before that, he was a senior compliance and surveillance officer with the ASIC's financial services industry unit.

In his new role, Hammelmann replaces Hugh McLennan who remains with the company as Queensland practice development manager after serving as state manager for seven years.

AMP, the Australia and New Zealand wealth management firm, reshuffled its management ranks to build a "leaner, more efficient" team, effective 1 January 2014.

Under the new structure, Lee Barnett retains his role as chief information officer, responsible for the company's information technology function, workspace and sourcing, while Pauline Blight-Johnston, director of wealth protection and mature products, was promoted to group executive for insurance and superannuation. Also promoted was Rob Caprioli, from director of banking and wealth management products, to group executive for advice and banking.

Gordon Lefevre, CFO of property firm Grocon, replaces Colin Storrie as chief financial officer, effective 1 March 2013. Lefevre will join AMP at the end of January 2014.

BT Investment Management, the Australian investment firm, named a replacement to outgoing chairman Brian Scullin, who retires on 6 December 2013 after six years on the post.

James Evans has been with the company since 2010 when he joined the board as non-executive director. He is currently the chairman of the audit and risk management committee. Evans brings over 40 years of industry experience to the firm and has held senior positions at Commonwealth Bank and Lend Lease.

JBWere, the Australia and New Zealand-focused private wealth management firm, appointed a new chief investment officer.

James Wright is now responsible for setting the firm's investment strategy. He oversees the asset allocation, product and security selection for the company's private wealth management, institutional and non-for-profit client portfolios.

Wright most recently served as CIO and head of equities at ING Investment Management. He has over 23 years of experience in the wealth management industry and has served the Commonwealth Treasury and Treasury Corporation of Victoria.

He replaced Giselle Roux who resigned in May.

Guy Carpenter, the global risk and reinsurance firm, strengthened its Australian operations with six new hires.

Matthew Rose now in the newly-created role of principal, capital and strategy, overseeing the firm’s expanded range of advisory services. Rose brings 23 years of industry experience to the role, having worked at Suncorp, Wesfarmers Insurance and Zurich.

Joining him were Tom Harvey as catastrophe analyst, Kim Collins as head of broking property replacements and Teresa Aquilina as head of property and casualty underwriting. The firm also relocated Samantha Dew and Valerie Badcock from London to lead the broking casualty placements and property division, respectively.

AMP Capital, the funds management arm of AMP, named a former National Australia Bank executive to lead its expanded self-managed super funds business.

Tim Keegan left his role as head of NAB's online broking business Nabtrade to assume the newly-created position of head of SMSF at AMP Capital at the end of October 2013. Prior to NAB, he held a similar role at Macquarie Bank.

Essence Fund Management, the Chinese fund advisory firm, appointed a new general manager.

Liu Ruling assumed his new role in 12 October 2013, replacing Wang Lianzhi, who has moved on to become president of its parent firm, Essence Securities. Liu was previously a director at Essence Futures and has been part of the company since June 2007. Prior to that, he was the general manager of the wealth management arm of China Merchants Securities.

Moelis & Company, the global investment bank that also provides financial advisory and asset management services, appointed a new Asia head.

Zhang Xiuping is managing director and head of the Asia mergers and acquisitions unit based in Hong Kong. In this role, she is responsible for deal origination and providing advice to regional and global clients with a focus on cross-border transactions in and out of China. She works closely with the Beijing office.

Zhang was previously the managing director and head of Asia M&A at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Prior that that, she was managing director and head of China M&A at Deutsche Bank.

Manulife Financial, the Canada-headquartered financial services group, hired a new head of wealth management for Asia.

Donna Cotter is vice president and head of wealth management, Asia, reporting to Philip Hampden-Smith, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Asia. She has been with the wealth management team since March 2011 as head of the regional strategy and product development team.

Cotter joined the firm's corporate development team in Hong Kong in January 2010. Prior to her move to Asia, she held various roles in Manulife's Canadian division since 2003, including in pension operations, Manulife Securities and Individual Wealth Management.

RBC Wealth Management strengthened its South East Asia team with four senior appointments.

Adria Chiu is director of the client solutions group, reporting to Enoch Tan, managing director and head of the client solutions group for RBC Wealth Management Asia. She brings nearly 12 years of industry experience to the role.

Choa Yeye was named director for South East Asia, reporting to Reto Caviezel,senior director for RBC WM South East Asia. She has 20 years of experience behind her.

Deepu Joseph is senior director for RBC WM South East Asia, reporting to Febby Avianto, managing director and market manager. He brings 15 years of industry experience to this post.

Finally, David Tan is senior director for RBC WM South East Asia. He also reports to Avianto. Tan has 12 years of industry experience.

Withers, the international law firm, relocated one of its top lawyers in London to lead its new Asian corporate and finance practice in Hong Kong.

Denis Petkovic, head of international finance and projects practice in London, brings 30 years of experience representing lenders, developers and investors from various sectors. The move strengthens the firm's continuing expansion strategy in the Asian region, particularly in the corporate space.

Eastspring Investments, the Asian asset management business of Prudential Corporation Asia, named a former Deutsche Bank executive as deputy chief executive and global head of distribution, product and marketing.

Michele Bang took up the newly-created position as part of the firm's continuing global expansion strategy.

She reports to Guy Strapp, who changed his role in the company from chief investment officer to chief executive in August 2013 and replaced Graham Mason who relocated to South Africa.

Stephenson Harwood, the international law firm that has a dedicated wealth management practice, bolstered its Hong Kong wealth arm with a new hire.

Peter Hodson joined as consultant and head of trust, bringing with him extensive experience in banking, finance, wealth management and fiduciary services. He is a former chairman of the Hong Kong Trustees Association and ex-president of the Guernsey International Legal Association.

Brunswick Group, the global financial and corporate communications firm, announced a new senior advisor based in Hong Kong.

Tim Freshwater brings over four decades of experience in the legal and banking industries and most recently served as vice chairman of Goldman Sachs (Asia). He remains an advisory director at Goldman and also sits on several boards including Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and Swire Pacific. He also held senior roles at international law firms Slaughter & May and Jardine Fleming.

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia hired a former UBS Private Bank executive to join its managed products team, this publication has learned.

Effective December 2013, Ernest Chan joins the company as managing director and head of managed products Asia. This is the first time Morgan Stanley has had a managing director in this role.

Chan was previously a managing director and head of investment funds, sales and distribution at UBS Private Bank Hong Kong and brings twenty years of credit marketing, capital advisory and funds distribution experience to the firm. Prior to UBS, he was with JP Morgan Private Bank Hong Kong.

Betty Wong joined Banque Privee Edmond de Rothschild as a director in Hong Kong.

Wong formerly worked at Swiss-headquartered BSI (owned by Italian financial services group Generali).

Withers, the international law firm, bolstered its Asian family practice with five key hires in Hong Kong.

Veronica Chan, April Wong, Billy Ko and William Huynh all joined the Hong Kong practice from other law firms, while Tim Carpenter relocated from the Withers London office. The company's 15-strong family team in Hong Kong advises clients on issues pertaining to families, such as divorce, prenuptial and postnuptial agreement, forum shopping, and child custody and cross-border disputes.

Investec Asset Management expanded its Asian retail fund capabilities with the creation of a new management position.

Beonca Yip assumed the newly-created role of head of advisor distribution for Asia ex-Japan and reports to Richard Garland, managing director of the Americas, Japan and Asia advisor client divisions. Yip was previously the head of retail at Eastspring Investments, the asset management arm of Prudential Asia. She left in May 2013.

Tokyo-headquartered Mitsubishi UFJ Financial added John V Roos, former US Ambassador to Japan, to its six-member global advisory board. Roos served as ambassador from August 2009 to August 2013. He is now part of a group composed of two European, two Asian and two American members.

The State Bank of India named Arundhati Bhattacharya as the bank's 24th chairperson, succeeding Pratip Chaudhuri who retired on 30 September. Bhattacharya, who previously served as managing director and chief financial offer, is SBI's first female chairperson. She has been with with the bank since 1977.

Threadneedle Investments named Soo Nam Ng as head of Asia equities, along with four more key hires for the region. Ng works with a new team consisting of Bernard Lim as senior fund manager for Asia ex-Japan, Christine Seng as fund manager for Singapore and Australia, Weixiong Liang as analyst and Wee Jia Low as senior associate. All are based in Singapore.

State Street Global Services appointed Elizabeth Sok-Gek Chia as head of global services for South East Asia and Singapore branch manager. Chia was the managing director and head of client development at BNP Paribas Securities Services and is now responsible for building the business in Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand, while leading the Singapore office.

ANZ Private Bank named Mario Bassi to the role of global business development head, based in Singapore. Bassi joined the firm from a three-year stint with Solution Providers. He is a veteran banker who has held senior roles at Deutsche Private Bank and Credit Suisse.

UK-headquartered financial software firm Misys appointed Chris Curtis as its regional sales director for Asia-Pacific. He took over from Craig Bennett. Based in Singapore, he now oversees new business development and client relationships across the Asia region.

Avaloq Group, the global banking technology developer, hired Gery Dachlan as head of sales for Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore. Dachlan previously served as head of private banking sales for Asia at TradingScreen.

BNP Paribas, the French banking giant, appointed Pierre Veyres as chief executive of BNP Paribas Singapore and regional head for South East Asia. He took over from Jean-Pierre Bernard, who retired. Veyres had been the global head for BNP Paribas CIB Transaction Banking since December 2009. Also appointed was Arnaud Tellier as CEO for the wealth management, Singapore branch. Tellier replaced Serge Forti, who continues to focus on his role as head of Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia markets.

International law firm White & Case expanded its global partner roster by 18, two of whom are based in Asia. Thomas J Benedict was named partner in the global white collar practise in Singapore, while David Li joined the Beijing team as partner for the global banking practice.

Eastpring Investments, Prudential UK's Asian asset management arm, announced Gwee Siew Ping as its new chief risk officer, reporting to Guy Strapp, chief executive. She replaced Lakshman Kumar, who retires at the end of 2013 from his position as head of risk, compliance and governance. She was previously the regional head of compliance and risk for Asia-Pacific at Schroders Investment Management.