People moves
Franklin Templeton Investments has appointed Naganath Sundaresan as president and chief investment officer of its alternatives business in India. Based in Mumbai, he will be responsible for growing the firm’s alternatives business in India and will report to Mat Gulley, executive vice president and head of alternatives. Before Franklin Templeton, he was at DSP Blackrock Investment Managers, where he was president and CIO…
BNP Paribas Securities Services has appointed Julien Kasparian as head of Hong Kong. He will be responsible for deepening relationships with clients. Previously, he was the firm’s London-based head of sales and global relationship management for UK banks and brokers…
Stoxx, the operator of Deutsche Boerse Group’s index business, has appointed Rick Chau as its Asia-Pacific head. Based in Hong Kong, he will lead the expansion of the Stoxx franchise in Asia-Pacific. Before Stoxx, he was previously an executive director at MSCI in Hong Kong, where he was head of exchanges for Asia-Pacific and head of index coverage for Hong Kong sell side and hedge funds and Taiwan…
Regulators
The Monetary Authority of Singapore and Abu Dhabi Global Market has signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the supervision of cross-border operations of banking operations. The agreement will build on Singapore and Abu Dhabi’s existing cooperation framework to cover the full spectrum of banks, financial markets and fintech-related activities…
The Securities and Futures Commission has banned Danny Fung, a former account executive at Fulbright Securities, from re-entering the industry for life. An SFC investigation found that between 2013 and 2014, Fung conducted 772 unauthorised transactions using the account of his client, who is also his perosnal friend, at Fulbright Securities. Fung fabricated telephone order recordings to mislead Fulbright into believing that his friend placed the orders. He also impersonated another friend/client when employed at Enhanced Securities. Fung was fined HK$542,071 ($69,418)…
Firms and funds
Natixis Global Asset Management has changed its name to Natixis Investment Managers. The name change better highlights the firm’s multi-affiliate business model, the firm said in a statement. Natixis Asset Management, a Paris-based affiliate of Natixis IM, is also undergoing a rebranding exercise and will be renamed in 2018. All other affiliates of Natixis IM will retain their current brands…
Infracapital, the European unlisted infrastructure equity investment arm of M&G Investments, has closed its first Greenfield Fund, with total commitments of £1.2bn ($1.59bn), which is in excess of the fund’s £1bn target. The fund invests in the later stages of development, construction and expansion phases of projects and companies across different sectors, such as communications, energy, renewables, social infrastructure, transportation and utilities. The fundraising had significant demand from institutions, with 85% of the investment from pension funds and insurance firms, the firm said. Half the capital was from international investors…
HNWIs
Most high net worth global families living in Asia are unprepared for transferring and inheriting wealth, according to a research by RBC Wealth Management, in collaboration with Scorpio Partnership. Around 57% of global families in the region have had conversations with their beneficiaries about how wealth will be transferred to them. However, less than a one-third have a full plan in place for how they will pass on their assets to the next generation…
Shariah investing
Bursa Malaysia will organise next week its inaugural shariah investing fair. The event aims to increase financial literacy and instill an investing culture among Malaysians, particularly in regard to shariah-compliant investment products such as stocks, ETFs, REITs, exchange-traded bonds and sukuk funds. The first 2,000 registrants will receive a mystery gift…
