Robin Solomon will lead the Asia-Pacific business of Mercer Sentinel following a seven-month period in which six staff members, including principals and senior associates, exited.
Solomon, a Sydney-based principal with the investment operations consultancy, will replace Lounarda David, who led Sentinel for 13 years before leaving in late April, as new hires are made to replace staff who have left.
“Robin is the de facto regional head of Sentinel, responsible for co-ordinating service delivery,” said Stephen Roberts, Asia-Pacific regional business leader for investment management at Sentinel’s parent company Mercer, in a telephone interview on Friday June 22.
Solomon will also lead Sentinel’s unit that assesses risks in clients’ investment-operation systems, such as their relationships with custodian banks. Other business units focus on custodial services, transition management, foreign exchange and securities lending.
Chris Saint Amand joined the operational risk unit from MLC Investment Management in Sydney last month. Sentinel is expected to announce its new head of transition-management consulting in the next fortnight to help fill vacancies that began opening in January.
Also at the departure gate…
Last week, Sydney-based principal Marian Azer resigned after six and a half years at the company, according to two people familiar with the matter. She was regarded as a possible replacement for David but never applied for the job, they say, and will soon join the custody business of JP Morgan in a Sydney-based role reporting to managing director David Braga. A JP Morgan spokeswoman declined to comment.
Azer’s move comes after a series of staff exits from Sentinel. Last month, former senior associate Elliott Graham ended a two-year tenure to join the transition-management team at JP Morgan in Sydney, and in April Jennifer Hague left Sentinel’s transition-management team to write client communications at AMP Capital Investors.
Like David, former associate Jennifer Bernard is understood to have exited and so far not returned to work in the investment industry, while in January former senior associate Jamil Barmania joined hedge fund-of-funds manager K2 Advisors in a Sydney-based role.
