Local Schroders CEO heads Asia: Aussie shop hires MLC exec

Schroders has overhauled its Asia Pacific leadership team, starting with the appointment of Chris Durack as chief executive.

He replaces Susan Soh, who will stay on as an adviser.

Durack, who had held the role of Schroders co-head of Asia Pacific, rejoins Schroders after leaving in 2021.

Durack - who had been with a $939 billion manager for ten years  - first joined from State Super in 2011, where he was chief executive.

Earlier, he was head of intermediary relationships at Challenger and and chief executive of Perpetual.

He previously worked as an asset consultant for Towers Perrin and Mercer.

Another Australian, Amanda Irving will relocate to Singapore to run marketing for the region.

She replaces Michelle Han, who has moved to London as global head of growth and digital marketing.

Irving was marketing director of marketing at BT Financial Group before joining Schroders.

After four years, Amy Cho, chief executive of Schroders Hong Kong and deputy Head of Asia Pacific, will depart the company.

Gopi Mirchandani, currently chief executive of NN Investment Partners, will step into her role.

Additionally, Mirchandani will take on the newly created role of strategy head, Asia Pacific, where she will work with the leadership team to identify new business opportunities and partnerships to accelerate growth across the region.

During her career, she held senior legal and compliance roles at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Deutsche Asset Management and Fullerton Fund Management.

Finally, Szu Yi Chin was appointed head of distribution, Asia Pacific.

Chin will work closely with regional distribution, product and marketing teams in the newly created role to drive the sales agenda.

She had previously done a 12-year stint at Schroders, working with the mutual funds business in Singapore and Malaysia.

Chin has spent the past eight years with Fidelity International, where her last position was chair and head of Taiwan.

"The Asia Pacific region is a key part of Schroders' growth strategy, and we are proud to have a line-up of strong senior leaders in the region to sustain our business momentum," said Schroders group chief executive Peter Harrison.

"I am pleased to welcome Durack back to the Schroders family. With a decade-long tenure at Schroders and a wealth of industry knowledge, Chris is ideally placed to lead the Asia Pacific region and ensure the ongoing success of our business."

Meanwhile, Schroders global head of distribution Lieven Debruyne noted the appointment of  Durack and the strength of his leadership team in Asia Pacific.

Meantime, Schroders Australia has appointed an institutional sales manager reporting to Schroders Australia's head of sales, Ray Macken.

Colin Keenan is tasked with servicing the firm's institutional clients and working with them to find solutions across equities, private markets, fixed income and multi-assets.

Keenan joins from MLC Asset Management, where has has been director of institutional business since 2019.

Before that, he held a dual business development/investment role at JCP Investment Partners for almost nine years.

Earlier, Keenan worked in client relationship roles at Hastings Funds Management and as an institutional foreign exchange dealer at Bank of Ireland's global markets business.

Macken said Keenan brings an impressive breadth and depth of experience to the role.

"Colin is an accomplished investment professional with 17 years'' experience in a variety of roles in the financial services industry -  from institutional business development to goal-driven investment team positions across multiple asset classes," he said.