Country Managing Director — Institutional Platform

The mandate

A privately held institutional business in Singapore is scaling client coverage, service capacity and control maturity in parallel. Group product investment is spread across local priorities without a clear return hierarchy. Capital sponsors have paused discretionary expansion until the country business demonstrates sustained operational discipline and return on deployed resources.

The Country Managing Director will steward approximately S$5,050 million in assets and lead about 400 employees and material partners. The role carries direct commercial, people and governance accountability across client coverage, local products, operations, technology priorities, risk acceptance and regulatory relationships. It reports to the Group Chief Executive and board.

The first task is to replace competing explanations with one country baseline. The appointee must show which client segments create durable risk-adjusted value, where delivery failure erodes trust and which controls must close before capacity expands. They will then place capital behind a small number of locally relevant advantages rather than distribute it through historical entitlements.

Enterprise alignment does not mean passive acceptance of group priorities. The MD must secure platform investment needed by Singapore while committing the country to common controls and services where local difference adds no value. Regulators and major clients should see accountable local leadership, not unresolved negotiation between region and centre.

The revenue plan needs a sharper client-capacity view. Institutional relationships may appear profitable while bespoke reporting, legal terms or service exceptions consume scarce specialists. The MD will decide which client promises are strategic, which require repricing and which should not be renewed. Front-office incentives must reflect risk-adjusted contribution and fulfilment, not mandate volume alone.

External confidence will be rebuilt through predictable governance. Regulatory commitments, board actions and material client issues should sit in one country calendar with clear evidence and escalation. The MD must personally own the narrative when delivery slips, while preventing senior visibility from becoming a substitute for accountable execution lower in the organisation.

Why this seat is open

The requirement was unplanned and became urgent after the capital reset. Interim coverage protects essential decisions, but split ownership cannot continue. The board intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within four to six weeks using confidential, evidence-led diligence.

What you will own

• Establish one country P&L, customer, control and capacity baseline.
• Decide priority segments, propositions and investments for renewed growth.
• Steward S$5,050 million of assets, risk acceptance and forecasts.
• Own local regulatory, client, employee and partner confidence.
• Resolve boundaries between country authority and enterprise platforms.
• Close growth-critical controls and make sustainable operation visible.
• Lead 400 employees and partners with clear executive accountability.
• Build succession and mobility while reducing dependency on individual rainmakers.

The first 12 months

The first 90 days should reconcile economic and operating evidence and meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to the licence to grow: regulators, major clients, group executives, local leaders and critical partners. Review unresolved commitments, assess leadership and stabilise immediate delivery or control risk. Agree board gates for releasing capital rather than offering a broad recovery programme.

Between months four and nine, make portfolio and organisation choices, close the controls that constrain growth and redirect investment towards priority relationships. Fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or client value. Group dependencies should have service standards and accountable escalation.

By year end, local growth, stakeholder confidence and enterprise alignment should improve repeatably. Delivery must fall within 10% of the approved value case, and forecasts should reconcile customer, cash, operating and people assumptions for three consecutive quarters. Priority risks need independently evidenced closure; no severe escalation should remain unresolved for more than 30 days.

What the board will measure

• Risk-adjusted growth and retention in the client segments selected for investment.
• Regulatory and client confidence in local ownership and delivery.
• Capital released only after agreed control and capacity gates are met.
• Country contribution from shared platforms and local capabilities.
• Critical-talent retention above 90% and ready-now successors for 70% of direct reports.
• Quantified improvement in the constraint behind the capital reset, with clean data ownership.

The person

You are a Country MD, Country CEO or General Manager with 28 or more years in financial services or a comparable governed enterprise. You have led a country, division or operating entity with direct commercial, people and governance accountability.

Your P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio has been at least S$2,950 million, and you have led no fewer than 400 people. You can show how you regained permission to invest after uneven execution and how the results remained durable over two reporting periods.

You are credible with regulators, institutional clients and private capital sponsors. You can advocate for the country while accepting enterprise standards, and you surface bad news before it becomes a board surprise.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is S$700,000–950,000 plus annual incentive and LTI. The permanent Singapore role is onsite, supports international relocation and can accommodate up to six months’ notice. Final terms reflect the confirmed country perimeter.

Confidentiality

The client name, footprint and transaction history will be shared only with qualified candidates under mutual confidentiality. Composite facts must not be reverse-engineered.