US investment consulting firm Mercer has lost wealth leaders in Japan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand since Graham Elliot became the firm’s investment and retirement wealth leader for Asia last year.
Market participants familiar with the moves at Mercer tell Asia Asset Management (AAM) that the company has been focusing on growing its outsourced chief investment officer or OCIO business under Elliott.
Elliot joined Mercer in June 2024 from Dutch asset manager Robeco, where he was managing director, head of distribution for Asia Pacific. He replaced Janet Li who went on to become chief executive officer of Hong Kong’s BEA Union Asset Management.
Elizabeth Oh, Kasin Sutuntivorakoon and Masaaki Sakakibara, who were Mercer’s wealth business leaders for Korea, Thailand and Japan, respectively, have left the firm over the last 14 months.
Mercer hired Shiro Tsubota from Robeco to replace Sakakibara in June this year, and Kyungsei Park from Samsung Asset Management as investment leader for Korea in September.
They report to Elliot. It’s not clear if a replacement has been appointed in Thailand.
The most recent departure was Chong Chee Loong, who left Mercer after nearly nine years, including five as chief executive officer in Singapore. His last day was September 30.
Mercer has appointed Simon Coxeter as its new Singapore CEO and he started in the role on October 1, according to his LinkedIn account. Coxeter was previously the firm’s global head of multi-asset manager research.
A Mercer spokesperson told AAM that the firm cannot comment on personnel movements.
