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Cohn & Wolfe’s Karen Ho steps down after nearly nine years to take career break

The group managing director of public relations agency Cohn & Wolfe has stepped down after almost nine years. Karen Ho, who has overseen the agency across South East Asia since 2008, officially leaves the WPP-owned agency on Friday to take a career break.

Asia Pacific president Matt Stafford will take on the role in the interim period until a replacement is appointed. He joined the agency in August last year after working as director of policy for the office of the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull previously.

Singaporean-based Ho told Mumbrella Asia that she intends to take a career break and use the time to visit her daughter, who is studying in the United Kingdom. She said: “On the whole things have been very hectic, so I want to take a sabbatical. I would not rule out eventually starting my own business, but it would not necessarily be in PR.”

In a mass email sent out, Ho added: “It has been a very exciting 8.5 years and I will leave the agency with a lot of fond memories of the myriad experiences and people I’ve come to know and worked with in this industry. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your kind support all these years.”

Cohn & Wolfe has undergone a turbulent 18 months after former APAC president Angelina Ong left the agency after just seven months in the role. She was replaced almost 10 months later by Stafford, who has 15 years of experience in both agency and government roles. He was chief executive of Burson-Marsteller in China and Hong Kong between 2011 and 2014, working with clients including Hong Kong Disneyland, Adidas, Qualcomm, Bank of America and Prudential.

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