Former Y&R Greater China chairman Tom Kao resurfaces at The Gate

Kao (pictured), who has a MBA from University of Cambridge, will head up The Gate's operations in Asia, including Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.

The Gate's clients include State Street Global Advisors, HSBC, Bank of China, Merrill Lynch, and Bocom International.

In this new role, Kao will report to Peter Reid, chief executive officer of MSQ Partners, and Tim Lindsay, chairman of The Gate Worldwide, and replace Arnold Ng, managing director for Asia, who is leaving the agency at the end of June.

MSQ Partners is an independent group of nine agencies in advertising, marketing, PR, digital, research and design, including CMW, Holmes & Merchant, Illuminas, twenty-six and Lloyd Northover. MSQ has 25 offices in the UK, US and Asia, with an annual revenue in excess of US$156 million (GBP100 million).

Kao said that The Gate, as a specialist and challenger’s agency, has a strong tradition in the financial service. "We hope to expand and transform into different categories in the professional services that require more specialized, mature and sophisticated expertise," he said.

Kao held the chairman position at Y&R for nearly three years. Prior to that, he was deputy chairman, Asia, for BBDO, where he worked for a decade.