From the press release desk this week…
People moves
Investec Asset Management has appointed James Elliot as head of multi-asset, effective July this year. Elliot will report to Domenico Ferrini, the firm’s co-CEO. Before Investec, Elliot was at JP Morgan Asset Management, where he led the development of the firm’s global multi-asset solutions business…
Active vs passive
Only 29% of Asia-Pacific-based institutions believe that actively-managed funds are worth the cost, according to a survey conducted by Allianz Global Investors. However, the survey noted that 55% said they thought active management was the best investment option when the underlying components of markets show little correlation. Separately, the study noted that while performance is one of the factors influencing their choice of managers (51%), Apac institutions also expressed a clear preference for long-term relationships with firms that understand their business goals and challenges (40%) and have specialist expertise in a particular asset class or strategy (37%)…
Institutional investors in Asia have doubled their ETF allocations to 23% of their total assets, according to a Blackrock survey. Almost half of the respondents currently investing in ETFs also expect to increase allocations this year. The report noted that 70% of the respondents invest in factor-based ETFs, while 43% invest in fixed-income ETFs…
Assets invested in the global ETF/ETP industry finished March up 1.42%, to a record $5.4trn, according to research firm ETFGI. There have now been 62 consecutive months of net inflows into ETFs/ETPs listed globally, the firm noted.
Hedge funds
Year-to-date, hedge funds globally had average gains of 5.4%, with China-focused products being the best performing funds during the period (18.65%), according to data from Evestment. In terms of strategy, long/short equity funds performed the best during the period (8.19%). During the period, not one category saw negative returns…
Source: Evestment
ESG
Around 55% of Asia-Pacific institutions and asset managers expect that around 50-75% of their assets will be integrating ESG factors, according to a BNP Paribas survey. Around 38% of the respondents are also expecting to hire new ESG talent, while 48% expect to increase the number of external ESG consultants or specialists…
S&P Dow Jones Indices has launched an ESG index based on the S&P 500 Index. The S&P 500 ESG Index will replicate the risk and return profile of the original index but will include ESG selection guidelines. The firm is also planning to launch a global family of ESG indices based on other widely tracked regional and country-specific large and mid-cap benchmarks used in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific…
Regulation
In three separate cases involving “fraudulent and dishonest conduct”, the Monetary Authority of Singapore banned individuals formerly at HSBC, UOB and NTUC Income from working in the industry.
Emeline Tang Wei Leng, formerly at HSBC, was banned for 20 years, Nguyen Duy Minh, ex- representative of UOB, 12 years, and Koh Zhan Loong John, former representative of NTUC Income, 10 years.
