Comms agency Cognito adds four consultants in Singapore and Hong Kong

The Asia-Pacific arm of Cognito, a marketing and communications consultancy for the financial services industry, has added four new team members: Maya Sivamany, Michelle Kwok Yai Lan, Abigail Peters and Andrew Kagoro.

Following the appointment of Darrel Wright as its new regional director late last year, and the establishment of an office in Hong Kong earlier in 2018, the growing APAC arm of financial services-focused marketing and communications agency Cognito has now further bolstered its local operations with the addition of four new faces across the month of July.

Andrew Kagoro joins Cognito as a Finance Manager in Singapore, the firm’s most recent addition. Kagoro has many years of experience in the local finance sector, acting as a consultant and senior director individually and for a number of firms after starting out as an Audit Engagement manager with PwC in 1998. Kagoro holds an MBA with the Singapore Management University.

Michelle Kwok Yai Lan joins as Senior Account Manager with Cognito’s Hong Kong office. Kwok has almost ten years of experience in the financial markets having been a journalist at Hong Kong Economic Times publications, rising to the role of Deputy Assignment Editor for iMoney Magazine while earlier gaining experience abroad in Cambodia and Spain.

Abigail Peters has joined Cognito as an Account Executive in Singapore. Peters previously worked with Right Hook Communications as a Junior PR Executive after having completed an internship with global PR and communications marketing firm Edelman in Singapore. Last year, she completed her BA in Mass Communications/Media Studies with Australia’s RMIT University.

Maya Sivamany crossed to Cognito at the beginning of the month as an account manager and has six years of experience in content, communications and project management. Sivamany will be based in Cognito’s Singapore office.

“We are delighted to see Maya, Michelle, Abigail and Andrew join our APAC team,” said Cognito Founder and CEO Tom Coombes, who launched the firm in the London in 2000 before growing it globally since to include offices in New York, Los Angeles and Amsterdam in addition to Singapore and Hong Kong.

“Clients are increasingly seeking consultancy for brand, digital and content strategy to meet complex communications and marketing needs. We are therefore continuing to hire the best talent in the industry and bring experts with diverse, complementary experience together to help companies tell distinct stories confidently and creatively,” Coombes added.

In addition to Darrel Wright as the firm’s APAC regional director, the senior leadership team for Cognito in the region includes Singapore Director Pristia Menon, an ex-EY ASEAN regional manager who has more than a decade of communications experience, and associate director Dan Bradley who heads up Hong Kong.

The recent appointments in the Asia Pacific come shortly after Cognito added three new members to its US team (Dominic Leung, Rebecca Cooper, Katie Dillon), three to its UK team (James Hannaford, Emma Martin, Kristy Howe) and one to its Dutch team (Gwendolijn Kappen).