Myron Zhu, who was primarily responsible for Manulife Investment Management’s (Manulife IM) strategy of acquiring stakes in Asia-based GPs with a pathway to control, has left the firm.

Zhu confirmed that he has exited his role as head of Asia private markets. Charles Wu, a director for private markets who worked alongside Zhu, has also departed, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Manulife IM didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Recruited from Aberdeen Standard Investments in 2019, where he had spent four years as co-head of Asia Pacific private equity, Zhu was tasked with furthering Manulife IM’s push into private markets in the region. This included acquiring stakes in GPs, helping institutionalise those managers, and eventually integrating them into the global platform.

“The private markets capability that we’re trying to build as well as the inorganic growth we might be targeting to acquire – these tend to be hungry teams driven by members who are eager for success,” Zhu told AVCJ in 2020. “I have to avoid the big mothership overshadowing the entrepreneurship of the start-up and burying it under unnecessary corporate processes and an approvals maze.”

Later the same year, Manulife IM supported the creation of Albamen Capital Partners by supporting the spinout of a team from Hong Kong-based infrastructure investor JIDA Capital. This was followed in 2022 by an investment in ARCH Capital, an Asia-focused real estate investor.

In each case, Manulife IM acquired a significant minority stake in the target GP. However, one of the sources added that these deals featured a provision enabling the firm to take majority ownership.

Manulife IM, a division of Canada-headquartered insurer Manulife Financial Corporation, had CAD 845bn (USD 622.5bn) in assets under management as of March. Of this, 11% was in private markets. Since 2005, it has committed CAD 15.8bn to private equity funds managed by sponsors in North America and Western Europe and deployed a further CAD 3.4bn in co-investment.

Manulife IM has been active in Asian private equity since 2009, putting CAD 4bn to work with 31 sponsors across 82 fund commitments and co-investments.