STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK
People moves
Franklin Templeton has appointed Richard Surrency as Singapore-based head of alternative sales for Asia. Reporting to Mark Browning, managing director for Asia, Surrency will be responsible for growing the team’s alternative business in the region. Surrency is expected to develop country level strategies and partner with various alternative investment groups, product and distribution teams to generate product solutions for Asia-based institutions and other sophisticated clients. Surrency was previously at alternative manager Algebris Investments, where he was managing director for capital strategy…
Business moves
VP Bank’s AUM rose 14.7% to reach CHF 74.6bn ($79.08bn) in 2019, according to the bank’s annual results. While net new money during the year totalled CHF 2.3bn, net inflows in 2018 were higher at CHF3.2bn. “All international sites contributed towards this positive result. This strong growth in net new money was the result of intensive market development and implemented growth initiatives as well as the recruitment of new client advisors,” the bank said. Group net income also rose 34.4% to CHF 73.5m from CHF 54.7m in 2018…
Invesco has launched two China A-share funds in Europe, which are the Invesco China A-Share Quality Core Fund and the China A-Share Quant Equity Fund, according to information from the firm’s website. The quality core fund will invest in companies which are “attractively valued and demonstrate sustainable growth”, while the Quant Equity Fund will make use of “quantitative methods”, including mathematical, logical and statistical techniques used for stock selection, according to their fund literature. The funds are not yet for sale in Hong Kong and Singapore, according to records from the SFC and MAS…
Standard Chartered has unveiled this week the brand name for its digital bank in Hong Kong – Mox. Mox is one of the virtual banks in Hong Kong by Standard Chartered in partnership with PCCW, HKT and Trip.com. Mox’s services are expected to launch later this year. One of its key features is the Mox card, which is a physical numberless card that is used for both spending and ATM cash withdrawals without any printed card numbers, expiry dates or card verification value. In addition, Mox is also expected to provide customers with financial management tools to help them “grow” their money, the website shows…
Hedge funds
The global hedge funds industry posted an aggregate performance of -2.53% in February, bringing year-to-date returns to -2.82%, according to an Evestment report. “This is a defining time for many managers,” Peter Laurelli, Evestment’s head of research, said in the report. “March is going to continue to see unprecedented volatility. For some hedge fund managers, this period will be a career maker…”
Sustainability
HSBC has launched a new tranche of green certificates of deposit for a global asset manager, according to a statement from the bank. This follows the bank’s debut of green retail certificates of deposit in Hong Kong issued last December. Denominated in Hong Kong dollars, the new tranche was issued to Invesco in Hong Kong last month with a fixed coupon of 2.05% per annum for six months. Proceeds of the green certificates of deposit will go toward financing eligible businesses and projects that promote the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient and sustainable economy…
