From the press release desk this week…
People moves
Old Mutual International, which is part of UK-based wealth manager Quilter, has appointed Flora Chan as head of distribution development for Hong Kong. Chan will be responsible for expanding Old Mutual International’s reach in the Hong Kong domestic adviser market, helping advisers to evolve their value and service propositions. Before Old Mutual International, Chan was a senior sales manager at Metlife, where she was responsible for leading the account management and distribution development of the broker channel…
Fidelity International has appointed Anne Richards as its London-based CEO and will report to Abigail Johnson, chairman of the firm. Richards, who is currently M&G Investments’ CEO, will be joining the firm in December. She has 26 years of experience in the asset management industry, including over two decades as an analyst, portfolio manager and chief investment officer…
Man Group has appointed Jason Mitchell as co-head of responsible investments. Mitchell will be responsible for working across the firm’s investment teams to ensure that investment processes and policies identify and integrate operational, governance and strategic risks. He will report to Sandy Rattray, Man Group’s chief investment officer. Before his new role, Mitchell was the firm’s sustainability strategist and a member of the responsible investment committee…
Busines moves
Gam Investments has been granted registration as a discretionary investment management and investment advisory and agency business by Japan’s Financial Services Agency. The registration permits Gam to directly engage with institutions in Japan, such as pension funds, for the purpose of managing their assets through a discretionary investment management scheme. The firm already holds a securities licence in Japan, which permits direct marketing of its funds in Japan. The firm established its Tokyo office in 1997 and has been expanding in the country recently. Last year, the firm hired Shizu Kishimoto from Schroders in Japan to lead its sales and oversee business operations in the country…
Malaysia’s Affin Hwang Asset Management has launched a close-ended fund that invests in a concentrated portfolio of domestic equities. The fund, Affin Hwang Dana Malaysia, aims to achieve an absolute total return target of 30% during the tenure of the fund. The fund is benchmarked against the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index and is available to sophisticated investors who seek capital appreciation, have a medium-term investment horizon and a high risk tolerance…
OCBC Bank has partnered with the Wealth Management Institute (WMI) of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore to launch the OCBC-WMI wealth advisory programme to equip its 300 wealth advisors with skills generally instilled only in private bankers. The programme is expected to raise the skills of retail banking wealth advisors with investment advisory principles in portfolio construction and management, asset allocation, relationship management, ethics and compliance. Such competencies are a dimension beyond the product-centric approach towards financial planning that is adopted by many retail banking wealth advisors, the bank said…
ESG and smart beta
A survey conducted by Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) and ESG research and ratings firm Sustainalytics has suggested a growing prominence of smart beta and ESG among investors. Among the 85 clients surveyed, 54% of organisations indicated that they use smart beta strategies and 76% consider ESG integration capabilities when awarding mandates. However, only 24% of surveyed investors said they are currently using a smart beta ESG strategy…
Regulation
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has implemented the open-ended fund companies (OFC) regime, effective 30 July. The new fund structure will enable investment funds to be established in corporate form in Hong Kong, in addition to the current unit trust form. The regulator will publish frequently asked questions to provide further guidance to the industry…
