Barings appoints its first head of Asia-Pacific

Duncan Robertson, Barings' global head of distribution and marketing, will take on the additional role as the firm's head of Asia-Pacific, a spokeswoman for the company confirmed.

The head of Asia-Pacific role is a new one.

Mr. Robertson will relocate from Barings' Charlotte, N.C. headquarters to its Sydney office, reporting directly to Thomas Finke, Barings' chairman and CEO.

The Asia-Pacific region accounts for 34% of the third-party client assets of Barings, the money management arm of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.

Mr. Finke, in a news release, cited "the addition of new resources and leadership" as a recognition of "the growing influence of the Asia-Pacific region within the global financial markets."

In addition, Barings announced the appointment of Shelley Liu as the firm's country head of China to oversee Barings' growth efforts in that country.

Ms. Liu comes to Barings from Vanguard, where she served as chief representative of that firm's Beijing office and head of government relations in China for Vanguard Investments Hong Kong.

A Vanguard spokesman couldn't immediately be reached for comment.