From the press release desk this week…
People moves
Investec Asset Management has appointed Marco Tang as head of advisory business for Greater China. In this newly created role, Tang will be responsible for managing the firm’s fund distribution business across the region, which includes private banking, retail banking and insurance channels. Based in Hong Kong, he will report to Eric Fu, managing director and country head for Greater China. Before Investec, Tang was from Neuberger Berman, where he was the head of retail business for mainland China and Hong Kong…
M&G Investments has appointed Heather Lei as a director for its intermediary team in Hong Kong. Reporting to William Tan, head of intermediary channels for Asia, Lei will be responsible for strengthening relationships and developing new partnerships with intermediaries in Hong Kong. Before M&G, Lei was a director for financial intermediaries at Janus Henderson, where she was responsible for fund distribution and building strategic relationships across channels throughout Greater China…
Franklin Templeton Investments in Australia has appointed Vivian Sun as senior director for institutional business. Based in Melbourne, Sun will be responsible for managing and building the firm’s relationships with institutional investors in Australia and New Zealand. She will report to Felicity Walsh, head of institutional and alternatives. Before Franklin Templeton, Sun was from Neuberger Berman, where she was institutional business sales executive and vice president for institutional business. Before that, she led the institutional business activities at Western Asset Management…
LJ Partnership, which will be rebranded as Alvarium Investments in 2019, has appointed Neill O’Brian as managing director for its wholly-owned investment and advisory subsidiary, Guggenheim Investment Advisors in Hong Kong, which was acquired by LJ Partnership in 2016. LJ Partnership is looking to manage a greater share of the growing pool of Asian wealth and help investors to look for co-investment and direct investment opportunities globally…
Product launches
BNY Mellon Investment Management has launched its Mobility Innovation Fund to retail and accredited investors in Singapore and to private banks in Hong Kong. The fund will hold around 40-60 companies that focus on innovation in transportation and related technologies. It will be managed by an investment team led by Sean Fitzgibbon from affiliate firm The Boston Company, and will replicate the first iteration of the $2bn strategy, which was launched in Japan at the start of the year. “Notable advancements in technology, coupled with increasing urban populations and environmental challenges, are all combining to create a transformational shift in the types of firms we can invest in today. This is the long-term theme which is likely to see significant appetite from Asian investors over the next few years,” Nicolas Kopitsis, head of Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) intermediary distribution at BNY Mellon IM, said in a statement…
Vontobel Asset Management has launched its Emerging Markets Blend Fund to investors in Singapore. The Luxembourg-domiciled fund, which was first launched in 2015, invests in emerging markets debt and currency, which include hard-currency sovereign debt, local-currency debt and corporate hard currency bonds. In Asia, the fund is available only for professional investors in Hong Kong and Singapore…
TH Real Estate, an affiliate of Nuveen, which is the investment management arm of TIAA, has launched an open-ended property fund that focuses on selected cities across Asia-Pacific. The Asia Pacific Cities Fund, is aimed at institutional investors and will focus on 17 principal and progressive cities across the region. Investments are underway with initial co-investment of $200m from TIAA, alongside commitments from two other founder investors…
Business moves
Standard Chartered has introduced a new secure instant messaging and file-sharing features on mobile, tablet and laptop for private and priority banking clients. The new instant messaging app will enable clients to interact with their private bankers and relationship managers to share banking-related and personal information securely within the bank’s mobile applications while viewing their portfolios. Clients will also be able to do video and voice calls and conferences with their relationship managers and invite additional investment advisors or specialists as needed…
Factor investing
Around 60% of investors globally are intending to increase allocations to factor-based strategies in the next three years, according to a survey conducted by Invesco. This is most pronounced in Asia-Pacific, where 77% of investors intend to increase factor allocations compared to 57% in Europe and 54% in North America…
