The DWS Invest Global Agribusiness Fund and separately, the Maybank All-Weather Quantitative Fund, were registered with the regulator this week, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) records show.
The products are in the recognition pending and authorisation process, according to MAS records. Once approved, they will be available to retail investors in Singapore.
The DWS product is a sub-fund of a Luxembourg-domiciled product. It is also available for sale to accredited investors in Singapore.
The manager, Stephan Werner, invests internationally in companies that “operate within the multi-layered food value chain. This includes companies involved in the cultivation, harvesting, planning, production, processing, service and distribution of agricultural products”, according to the prospectus.
Werner also manages the DWS Global Agribusiness Fund, which is authorised for sale in Hong Kong and Singapore, according to FE data.
The sector of Singapore commodity funds includes only four agribusiness products. Aside from the DWS products, the Allianz Global Agricultural Trend Fund and the Amundi CPR Global Agriculture Fund are the other two, according to FE data.
Maybank
As for the Maybank All-Weather Quantitative Fund, the prospectus noted that “the investment objective is to provide capital growth through investments in a portfolio of equities listed mainly in the Asia (ex-Japan) markets.
Despite the fund’s name, it is not a pure quant product. It will be actively-managed by Robin Yeoh Yern Jin and Mark Chua Ru Hui and also use qualitative analysis, the prospectus added.
FSA contacted the firm but it was unable to provide more details in time for publication.
Malaysia-based Maybank Asset Management has been expanding activities in Singapore.
In November 2018, Maybank AM and Schroder Investment Management established a strategic partnership in Singapore to co-develop investment products for Malaysia’s sophisticated wealthy investors.
The collaboration hopes to draw on the regional presence of Maybank AM and the global investment capabilities of Schroders, FSA previously reported.
Moreover, in July this year, Maybank AM launched its Asian Growth and Income Fund for retail investors in Singapore, according to FE data.
