Since the emergence of “Modern Portfolio Theory” and the “Capital Asset Pricing Model” in the late 1960s, institutional investors have taken a quantitatively driven approach to portfolio construction, looking to create portfolio diversification and obtain better risk-adjusted returns by balancing their asset-class exposures. This journey has seen several important advancements in thinking about how to optimally achieve desired results.
Funds that want to take the total portfolio approach first need to get the total portfolio view. To do that they not only need data – and lots of it – but a rock-solid understanding of exactly how they’re going to use it.
State Street restructures senior management across APAC
(Pictured: Ian Martin)
State Street has restructured its senior management in three of its four divisions across the region, with Sydney-based Ian Martin, who ran global markets and securities services in Australia and southern Asia, being promoted to a new role in Hong Kong. He is being replaced by Chris Taylor, who is moving from Hong Kong to Sydney.
The restructure, expected to be announced this week, is designed to bring together the regional leaders of the divisions under the one roof for quicker and better decision making. It does not involve the fourth division – the funds management arm, SSgA.
Taylor and Martin are both State Street veterans. Taylor spent about 10 years in London, primarily in securities lending, before running regional sales out of Hong Kong for the past four years.
In Hong Kong, Martin will be in charge of global markets (which includes FX, securities lending and transition management) and State Street’s fourth division, “Global Exchange”.
Global Exchange was established last year to bring together various research and information units within the group and manage them on a global basis. It is run by Jeff Conway, who also had a stint running securities services in Australia and London some years ago.
Andrew Erickson, another Australian who spent a long time in Japan with State Street and who has run securities services for northern Asia from Hong Kong, has had his brief broadened to the whole Asia Pacific region.
Also heading up to Hong Kong from Sydney will be State Street’s chief operating officer, Michael Brager, who has been with the company for 24 years and has previously held operations roles in Boston and Hong Kong
“The aim is to centralize our regional management resources,” Martin said last week. “It should allow us to be more co-ordinated.”
In theory the restructure takes effect from July 1, but Taylor was in Sydney last week preparing for his transition and Martin and Erickson are already working on their new roles.
Martin, whose background was in global markets, was the first State Street executive in Australia to oversee both pillars of global markets and global services.
State Street restructured management of SSgA last year with former chief investment officer Lochiel Crafter taking over responsibilities for the regional business.
