MORGAN Stanley Private Equity Asia (PEA) is reorganising its teams in the region as its current chief executive of Asia Chou Chin is retiring, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.

Morgan Stanley will carve out a China-focused team from the rest of the region that focuses on investments in onshore and offshore China, according to the memo.

The firm has appointed Xu Jun, who is currently head of its yuan-denominated investment funds, to lead all private equity investing in China, the memo said.

Xu joined Morgan Stanley in 2005, and has led the expansion of the yuan-denominated private equity business in China since joining PEA in 2008.

Nirav Mehta and Arjun Saigal, currently co-heads of India private equity, will take on the roles of co-head of PEA ex-China, which will still invest across the region with India as its core focus, Morgan Stanley said in the memo.

A spokesperson for the firm confirmed the content of the memo.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Chou will be retiring after a 35-year career with the Wall Street bank’s private equity arm, with stints in its New York office in the late 1980s before coming to Asia in the 1990s to establish the business.

He served on the firm’s Asia-Pacific executive committee and is a key leader in its five regional private equity funds, in addition to overseeing the creation of the China yuan and Thai funds.

Andrew Hawkyard will also retire after 24 years with the PEA unit, most recently serving as the unit’s chief investment officer, the memo said. REUTERS