People moves
Aviva Investors has appointed Adeline Ng as head of Asian fixed income and Alice Wu as an analyst for the same capability. Based in Singapore, Ng will be responsible for leading the fixed income business in the region and will report to Dan James, global head of fixed income, while Wu will report to Ng. Both Ng and Wu were previously from BNP Paribas Asset Management, where Ng was the firm’s head of Asia fixed income, while Wu was a fixed income analyst…
Pinebridge Investments has appointed Michelle White as Singapore-based head of consultant relations for Asia. She will be responsible for leading the firm’s consultant relations effort across Asia, establishing and enhancing relationships with global and regional investment consultants in the region. Before Pinebridge, she was Capital International’s director of financial intermediaries for Singapore and Southeast Asia, where she was repsonsible for developing the firm’s financial intermediaries business across Asia as well as managing relationships with global consultants and institutions…
Fintech firm Avaloq, which provides bank transaction processing services, has appointed Chris Beukers as managing director for Asia-Pacific. Before Avaloq, he was previously Pactera Technology International’s managing director for Asia-Pacific…
Business moves
Indosuez Wealth Management’s AUM in Asia has increased to €12bn ($14.11bn) with the acquisition of Crédit Industriel et Commercial’s private banking operations in Singapore and Hong Kong. Indosuez’ employee base in the region also increased to 400 from 250…
Ashburton Investments, the asset management arm of the Firstrand Group, and IIFL Asset Management have signed an agreement to merge the Ashburton India Equity Opportunities Fund into the IIFL India Equity Opportunities Fund. Jonathan Schiessl, Ashburton’s international chief investment officer and manager of the Asbhurton India fund since its launch in 2012, will continue to manage the merged fund. He will also join IIFL AM as CIO and lead fund manager of the merged fund with Swati Jain joining as head of institutional sales to continue the distribution of the strategy to international investors…
Singapore-based insurance firm NTUC Income and Fullerton Fund Management have proposed a strategic partnership to appoint Fullerton as the investment manager of a portfolio of Income assets of around S$23bn ($17.01bn). As part of the proposed partnership, FFMC Holdings, the holding company of Fullerton, will issue new shares to Income. Upon completion of the transaction, Income will own a significant minority stake in FFMC, while Temasek remains the majority shareholder. Completion of the proposed transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions…
Mercer’s global assets under delegated management has reached $213bn. The firm’s delegated solutions business was developed 20 years ago in Australia, and then later expanded to the US, Canada, Europe and New Zealand, and has been recently attracting clients in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East…
Deutsche Asset Management will be using “DWS” as its new global brand, where all of the firm’s asset management business lines will be united. The umbrella brand will encompass the firm’s institutional and retail businesses across its active, passive and alternatives products…
US-based asset managers are building out their environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing capabilities as interest from advisors is expected to increase, according to a research conducted by Cerulli Associates. The research found that incorporating ESG capabilities is a high priority for 35% of asset managers, while another 57% place a moderate level of priority on the initiative…
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), a significant investor in Asia, has invested HK$1.94bn ($250m) to acquire an interest in Goodman Hong Kong Logistics Partnership (GHKLP), which is one of Goodman’s flagship logistics partnerships, with the largest portfolio of logistics properties in Hong Kong. As of the end of September, GHKLP had total assets of HK$28.7bn invested across 13 assets…
Bitcoin
Singapore-based Helvetic Investments has launched a digital currency fund in the Lion City. The Cryptocurrency Balanced Large Cap Fund SP is advertised as the first crypto fund in Asia to target professional investors. The fund will allow family offices, accredited investors and institutions to access a basket of the 15 most popular cryptocurrencies…
Indonesia has become the latest country take a stance on bitcoin. Bank Indonesia, the country’s central bank, plans to issue a regulation prohibiting transactions using digital currencies. The regulation is expected to take effect next year…
Japan’s Financial Services Agency has authorised four virtual currency exchanges to operate in the country. The approved exchanges are already the second batch of companies authorised by the regulator. In September, the FSA gave a green light for 11 other exchanges to operate in the country…
