Switzerland’s UBS Asset Management ( UBS AM ) has appointed Desmond Ng as its regional head of asset management for Asia-Pacific, effective October 1.

Based in Hong Kong, Ng, who will be a member of UBS AM’s global and Asia-Pacific management teams, will report to Aleksandar Ivanovic, the asset manager’s global president, and Iqbal Khan, its co-president of global wealth management and president of Asia-Pacific.

Ng has over 28 years of asset management industry experience, the asset manager says, as well as a deep knowledge of the region and its clients. He joins from Allianz Global Investors where he was its head of Asia-Pacific, responsible for the retail and institutional businesses. Prior to this, he was CEO for Greater China at Invesco, and previously held a number of senior positions at JP Morgan Asset Management. He was also the chairman of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association from 2009 to 2011 and vice-chairman from 2008 to 2009.

In his new role, Ng will drive the execution of the asset manager’s Asia-Pacific strategy, including the firm’s OneBank initiatives with global wealth management and the investment bank in the region.

In addition, UBS AM says, he will “work closely with the experienced teams across the region to leverage the best of our investment capabilities globally to meet the needs of our institutional, wholesale and wealth management clients in each market. Ng will also play a key role as we explore further opportunities to expand UBS’ collaboration with our joint venture partners in China.”