STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK
People moves
M&G Investments has appointed Berny Lin as Singapore-based head of distribution for Asia (ex-Japan). In this newly created role, Lin will be responsible for growing the firm’s wholesale and institutional presence in the region and will lead Hong Kong- and Singapore-based teams to service clients across Asia. Lin will report to Loretta Ng, head of Asia. Lin was previously at Eastspring Investments, where he was chief distribution officer and chief marketing officer. Before that, he spent six years at Deutsche Asset Management in Hong Kong and Taiwan…
Capital Group has appointed Debbie Fok as Hong Kong-based marketing director for financial intermediaries for Hong Kong and North Asia. Fok will lead the firm’s financial intermediary marketing strategy in Hong Kong, particularly raising awareness of the firm’s Luxembourg-domiciled funds to investors. She will report to Hannah Aymé, managing director for financial intermediaries marketing for Europe and Asia. Fok was previously Matthews Asia’s head of marketing. Before that, she spent at least a decade at JP Morgan Asset Management, where she held various senior marketing roles…
Schroders has appointed Julien Houdain as London-based deputy head of credit for Europe. In this newly created role, he will report to Patrick Vogel, head of credit for Europe and will work alongside the credit team on Schroders’ credit strategy. Houdain was head of global bond strategies at Legal & General Investment Management…
Lombard Odier Investment Managers has named Alexis Maubourguet to launch an absolute return strategy for institutional clients. Maubourguet was previously a volatility portfolio manager at Argeniére Capital, where he launched and managed the firm’s relative value opportunities fund. Maubourguet’s appointment follows after the firm made three hires this month for its thematic equities franchise…
Singapore-based financial advisory firm AAM Advisory, which is part of UK-headquartered wealth manager Quilter, has hired Shreemati Varadarajan as head of investments. Varadarajan was previously Farringdon Asset Management’s chief commercial and operations officer in the Lion City. Before that, she held roles at financial planning firm Globaleye…
Business moves
HSBC has launched a new mobile service to retail investors in Hong Kong. The service, FlexInvest, allows retail investors to invest in six bond and equity index funds, which are managed by HSBC Global Asset Management. Retail investors will be able to invest in the products with as little as HK$100 ($12.9), with zero transaction costs. To further reduce costs, the platform fee will be waived for customers with an average monthly holding balance below HK$10,000. The fee will rise to a flat rate of HK$28 a month for portfolios between HK$10,000 and HK$200,000, followed by a standard rate of 0.8% per annum for portfolios exceeding HK$200,000…
PT BNP Paribas Asset Management in Indonesia has launched the BNP Paribas Greater China Equity Syariah Fund, which is the firm’s second shariah-compliant offshore equity fund. The fund, which integrates ESG factors into its investment process, is also Indonesia’s first fund product that invests in Chinese equities, the firm claims.
Principal Asset Management in Malaysia has launched the Principal Islamic Asean Equity Fund. The fund invests in Asean stocks that adhere to shariah principles. The product is designed as a feeder fund, in which the product will invest at least 95% of its assets in the Islamic Asean Equity Fund, an Ireland-domiciled product managed by Principal Islamic Asset Management…
Regulation
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has lifted the suspension of UBS Securities in the SAR to act as a sponsor for listing applications on the local bourse. The licence, which allows UBS Securities to act as a sponsor, was suspended for one year as part of SFC’s disciplinary action against UBS AG and UBS Securities when they were sanctioned in March for their failures to discharge their obligations as one of the joint sponsors of three listing applications. UBS has engaged and cooperated with an independent reviewer to review its policies, procedures and practices in relation to the conduct of its sponsorship business. The SFC has assessed the reviewer’s findings of UBS, including obtaining supporting documents, as well as seeking explanations for the reviewer’s conclusions about the adequacy and effectiveness of UBS’ governance framework and control processes…
