This week…
| People moves |
| Franklin Templeton has appointed Avinash Satwalekar as country head of Malaysia and CEO of Franklin Templeton Asset Management (Malaysia). He was previously the CEO and chief investment officer of Vietcombank Fund Management, which is a joint venture between Franklin Templeton and Vietcombank, and has relocated to Kuala Lumpur from Ho Chi Minh City to lead Franklin Templeton’s retail and distribution business in Malaysia. He replaced Sandeep Singh, who has moved to Dubai to take on the role of senior director and regional head for Central Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa…
Vanguard has relocated Yan Pu to Hong Kong from the US to take up the post of head of portfolio review for Asia. She is responsible for product management and development, capital markets and product-specific client engagement. She was previously the firm’s co-head of Americas bond index team within the firm’s fixed income group, where she managed several portfolios, including the Short-Term Bond Index Fund, the Total International Bond Index Fund and the Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund… T Rowe Price has appointed Thomas Poullaouec as head of multi-asset solutions for Asia-Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, he reports to Baltimore-based Peter Austin, global head of multi-asset solutions, and is responsible for engaging with institutional investors in the region on defined outcome investments. He was previously at State Street Global Advisors, where he was managing director and head of strategy and research for Asia-Pacific at the firm’s investment solutions group… |
| Mobile apps |
| Thailand’s Kasikorn Asset Management has launched a personal advisor mobile app for its clients. The app, K-My Funds, provides investors customised advice with a recommended investment portfolio, to help investors hit their targets more easily… |
| Fund raising |
| Asia Alternatives, one of the largest independent Asian private equity fund-of-funds, has announced the final close of around $1.8bn in new commitments across its Asia Alternatives Capital Partners V and several other fund vehicles. The funds are focused on building a diversified Asia private equity portfolio with an emphasis on top-performing local Asian fund managers… |
| Regulation |
| Following Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Korea, Malaysia’s Securities Commission (SC) has warned investors on initial coin offerings. The regulator outlined potential risks, such as fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as the risks of insufficient liquidity or volatile and opaque pricing. Investors should fully understand the features of an ICO scheme and carefully weigh the risks… |
| Fintech |
| Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and Malaysia’s SC have signed a fintech cooperation agreement. Both regulators agreed to cooperate on information sharing and referrals of innovative firms seeking to enter one another’s markets. The SC has also established fintech agreements with the Dubai Financial Services Authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission… |
