Aberdeen hires corporate governance expert

Aberdeen Asset Management has hired Peter Taylor in Singapore to join its Asian equities team. It is a newly created role in which he will work with the firmÆs 27-strong regional equity investment team to spearhead corporate governance and interface with company boards of directors across the region.

Taylor has spent the past seven years at the International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group. Working out of Washington, DC and Hong Kong, Taylor became a corporate-governance expert at the IFC.

Aberdeen wanted to hire someone like him in order to make corporate-governance issues a more important screen in its investment process. The firm is a regional leader in voting shares.

Taylor will report both to Hugh Young, managing director, and Peter Hames, head of Asian equities, in the firmÆs Singapore office.

Separately, Aberdeen is also transferring Nick Yeo, an investment manager, from Singapore to Hong Kong. YeoÆs focus is Greater China equities so the decision behind the move is obvious. But not only will he continue to cover Hong Kong stocks and H shares, but also develop the firmÆs expertise in mainland A shares. Yeo has been given a mandate to establish a dedicated China team.

Yeo first joined Aberdeen in 2000 and was seconded to its London global emerging markets (GEM) team for two years. While in London, Yeo covered EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Latin American companies before returning to AberdeenÆs Asia equity team in 2004. He also reports to Young and Hames.