Nor Hanifah Hashim

Franklin Templeton has appointed Nor Hanifah Hashim as head of Malaysia business, replacing Avinash Satwalekar who has been named president of the firm’s India business.

In addition to her new role as head of Malaysia, Hanifah will continue to be the lead manager supervising the firm’s sukuk fund and mandates, including developing investment policies for the Malaysian market.

She also works closely with the fixed-income team in the Middle East on global sukuk mandates and supports the firm’s global fixed-income capabilities.

Hanifah will continue to report to David Zahn, head of sustainable fixed income and head of European fixed income, and will now also report to Tariq Ahmad, head of Asia distribution.

Hanifah has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. She will retain her role as chief executive officer of Franklin Templeton GSC Asset Management ( FTGSC ), a position that she has taken since 2017. During that period, she has been instrumental in increasing FTGSC’s market penetration in Malaysia.

She first joined Franklin Templeton as head of Malaysia fixed income and sukuk in 2011 and oversaw the launch of the Franklin Malaysia Sukuk Fund in November 2015. FTGSC is the Shariah-compliant entity in Malaysia.

Completing the round of key appointments for Malaysia, Hanifah will be joined by Jackie Goh as head of institutional sales, and David Jong as head of retail sales.

In her new role, Goh will oversee the firm’s institutional sales channels for Malaysia and develop country-level strategies and partner with various product and distribution teams to generate new product solutions that meet the needs of the firm’s institutional clients in the market.

Jong will spearhead the firm’s retail sales efforts across Malaysia, working closely with country teams to develop and implement product distribution strategies to support the growth of the firm’s retail business in the market.