From the press release desk this week…
World Cup predictions
Goldman Sachs has made predictions of this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament and arrived at a clear winner by using artificial intelligence, according to a report published by the bank. The firm made use of 200,000 models and harnessed data on team characteristics and individual players to work out which factors help predict match scores. It was able to simulate one million possible evolutions of the tournament to gauge the probability of each team progressing through the rounds. According to its predictions, Brazil will win its sixth World Cup title – defeating Germany in the final in July. However, the bank acknowledged that it could be wrong. “The forecasts remain highly uncertain, even with the fanciest statistical techniques, simply because football is quite an unpredictable game. This, of course, is precisely why the World Cup will be so exciting to watch…”
People and business moves
Legal & General Investment Management has appointed David Hoantee Peng as head of Asia Pacific (ex-Japan). Based in Hong Kong, he will report to Roger Bartley, London-based vice chairman for investments. He will be responsible for developing the firm’s growing business in the region. Before joining LGIM, Peng was at Standard Life Aberdeen, where he was head of Asia for more than seven years…
GAM Investments is planning to establish an on-the-ground presence in Australia by opening an office in Sydney. In line with its plans, it has hired Alex Zaika as managing director for Australia to build a local team of dedicated professionals for the Australian market. Based in Sydney, Zaika will report to Rossen Djounov, Hong Kong-based managing director and head of Asia. The firm already manages around A$5.2bn ($3.93bn) of assets sourced from Australian institutional and wholesale clients. Before joining GAM, Zaika was at Blackrock, where he was head of wealth for iShares in Australia.
BNP Paribas Securities Services has appointed Diana Senanayake as head of Singapore. She will be responsible for continuing the build out of the firm’s operations while deepening relationships with new and existing clients. Before joining BNPP SS, she was managing director for global client coverage at RBC Investor and Treasury Services in Luxembourg…
HNW women and inclusion
Three-quarters of high-net-worth individuals in Hong Kong, China and Singapore believe that the society has become more inclusive of women, by providing more opportunities and resources for women to start a business, according to a survey conducted by RBC Wealth Management. However, the perception of inclusion of women in Hong Kong is lower than in the other markets. Only 65% of respondents in the territory believe that the society has become more inclusive. Surprisingly, men (58%) see less improvement than women (73%). This can be explained by a sampling bias. “In this case there would appear to be some basis for men to hold these views,” the report states. “The survey shows that Hong Kong lags its peers significantly in terms of the percentage of HNW female respondents who are business owners at 8% versus 35% in mainland China and 31% in Singapore…”
Regulation and enforcement
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) held their sixth regular high-level meeting this week to discuss a range of enforcement cooperation matters. The regulators exchanged views on closer collaboration in market surveillance, sharing of intelligence and market information, as well as coordinated investigations. “We will continue to strengthen our cooperation and explore ways to enhance cross-boundary market surveillance – including the use of new technologies – to cope with new challenges brought about by increased interaction of the two markets,” Thomas Atkinson, SFC’s executive director for enforcement, said in a statement…
The SFC has reprimanded Lau Ki Fung, a former account executive at brokerage firm KGI Asia, and fined him HK$80,000 ($10,193) for failing to keep proper records of order instructions from clients. The SFC found that between July 2015 and August 2015, Lau received 156 order instructions from four clients on mobile phone or during meetings outside KGI’s office. However, he failed to use a telephone recording system to record these instructions, as required by the code of conduct and KGI’s internal requirements…
Technology
Schroders has launched in Singapore an online chatbot operating through Facebook Messenger. The chatbot, “Schroders Go”, offers real-time communication channel to the firm’s intermediary client base, allowing them to access information on all mutual funds recognised for sale in Singapore, as well as financial markets news and market views, without the need to download an additional app. The firm has worked closely with its four primary distribution partners in Singapore, Citibank, NTUC Income, UOB and Synergy Financial Advisers, to develop the functionality of Schroders Go…
