Stories you may have missed this week
People moves
Merian Global Investors and Schroders have announced that they will be restructuring their businesses, according to a report by FSA’s sister publication International Adviser. Around 200 roles are expected to be cut at Schroders, though a spokesperson for the firm told IA that it will have more people at the end of 2019 than it did at the start of the year. Meanwhile, it is not clear how many roles are at risk at Merian. Separately, Gam Investments is also expected to axe hundreds of jobs over the next couple of years…
VP Bank has expanded its private banking team in Singapore with two hires in a move to bolster its Asia-Pacific coverage, according to a statement from the firm. Davin Wong has joined the bank as executive director and team head, reporting to Karen Tan, head of private banking. James Leong, meanwhile, joins as executive director and senior relationship manager, reporting to Wong. Before VP Bank, both hires were previously at Julius Baer, where Wong was a team head and Leong was a senior relationship manager…
Aberdeen Standard Investments announced that it has appointed Garreth Innes as head of Australian fixed income. Innes joined the firm’s fixed income team in 2011 and has been promoted to lead the team that manages Australian fixed income portfolios. Sydney-based Innes will also be contributing local market insights to the firm’s global fixed income mandates. Globally, the firm manages around $171bn in fixed income assets…
Business moves
Singapore-based UOB Asset Management (UOB AM) is expected to expand in Vietnam through the acquisition of VAM Vietnam Fund Management, which manages around S$6.72m ($4.94m) in domestic securities. According to a UOB Bank statement, UOB AM will initially acquire a 24.35% stake from VAM Vietnam co-founder Nguyen Xuan Minh, which is subject to regulatory approvals from Vietnam and Singapore. After receiving approval, UOB AM will acquire the remaining 75.47% shares from the other shareholders. The deal size is around S$6.7m and is not expected to have a material impact on the earnings or the net tangible assets of UOB AM or UOB Group for the current financial year. UOB AM’s move follows the completion of its purchase of a 75% stake in Jakarta-headquartered PG Asset Management…
Jupiter Asset Management will be taking a minority stake in US-based investment firm NZS Capital and will enter into a strategic partnership with the firm in the first quarter next year, according to a statement. NZS Capital was co-founded by fund managers Brad Slingerlend and Brinton Johns, who worked together for 14 years at Janus Capital prior to setting up the firm. Under the partnership, Jupiter will be the exclusive distributor of NZS’ global growth unconstrained-style investment portfolios. This includes launching Jupiter-branded mutual funds based on these strategies in the future. Initially, the priority will be to target institutional investors, including those in the US…
E Fund Management in Hong Kong has selected Lemanik Asset Management as its management company for its Luxembourg Ucits E Fund Sicav Fund, which was launched in 2015, according to a statement from Lemanik AM. Lemanik AM will be providing E Fund with the regulatory, supervision and oversight framework to support the fund’s operations and distribution in Europe…
Fund launches
Singapore-based impact investment firm Circulate Capital has launched a fund dedicated to preventing plastic waste from leaking into the oceans of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The Circulate Capital Ocean Fund will finance Asia’s waste ecosystem and incentivise private capital investment in the recycling value chain. The fund has raised around $106m from corporations, including Pepsi Co, Chevron Phillips Chemical Danone, Dow, Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever…
Janus Henderson has registered its flagship Multi-Sector Income Fund and Absolute Return Income Opportunities Fund for sale to retail investors in Singapore, according to a statement from the firm. The Multi-Sector Income Fund, which is a Luxembourg-Ucits product, will replicate the approach of the established US-domiciled fund, which seeks to deliver income to investors with lower volatility when compared to a high yield strategy. Meanwhile, the Absolute Return Income Opportunities Fund is a Dublin-domiciled vehicle will focus on absolute return targets above cash with an emphasis on capital preservation, targeting less than 3% volatility per annum…
Shanghai-based China Southern Asset Management has launched its first ESG-themed equity fund. The move comes after the firm became a signatory of the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible investment last year, making it one of the first Chinese managers to join the PRI and implement ESG principles. China Southern is one of the largest asset managers in China, with assets of around $147.6bn…
Regulation
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission will be waiving licensing fees for all licensed and registered firms for the financial year 2020-2021, according to a statement from the regulator. This does not apply to any other fees, such as licence application fees and transfer fees. The decision is made to relieve the regulatory cost burden on the securities and futures industry having taken into account the “current challenging market environment”. “We hope this good will gesture will provide a certain degree of financial relief for over 47,000 licensees and registrants in particular smaller firms amidst the current economic downturn,” SFC CEO Ashley Alder said in the statement…
The number of SFC-licensed firms grew 7.2% to 3,084 as of the end of September from the same month last year, while the number of licensed and registered professionals was up 3.4% to 47,635 during the same period, according to the regulator’s latest quarterly report. The SFC has also conducted 106 on-site inspections, up 28.8% year-on-year, of licensed firms to review their compliance with regulatory requirements…
