From the press release desk this week…
More to study
The CFA Institute will be including topics on cryptocurrencies and blockchain to its level I and II exams next year, according to a Bloomberg report. The topics will be included under fintech, a topic that was added last year. “We saw the field advancing more quickly than other fields and we saw it as more durable,” the report said, quoting Stephen Horan, managing director for general education and curriculum. “This is not a passing fad…”
People moves
Fidelity International has appointed Johann Sanger in the newly created role of head of private banking business for Asia ex-Japan. Santer is expected to work with the firm’s global teams to deliver the service and investment solutions demanded by private banks in Asia. Before Fidelity, he was managing director and head of investment specialists for funds in Hong Kong at Julius Baer…
Franklin Templeton has made key appointments to its investment solutions team for its multi-asset solutions group in Asia. Subash Pillai was named as Singapore-based managing director and head of investment solutions for Asia in May, while Stephen Tong was appointed as Hong Kong-based client portfolio manager earlier this year. Pillai will be responsible for leading the development of client investment solutions in Asia, including Australia, while Tong will be involved in managing client assets in collaboration with the portfolio managers of multi-asset solutions strategies. Before Franklin Templeton, Pillai was responsible for Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s fixed income and mulit-asset business in Asutralia as well as its global liquidity business in Asia-Pacific, while Tong was previously from Willis Towers Watson, where he was a senior investment consultant…
Products
Singapore-based Lion Global Investors has launched an actively managed fund with a very low total expense ratio capped at 0.5% per annum. The fund, the LionGlobal All Seasons Fund, invests in the firm’s equities and bond funds, as well as ETFs of other fund managers. It has two portfolio options that cater to different risk appetites: a growth fund and a standard fund. The fixed income components in the portfolio include the firm’s Short Duration Bond Fund, the Singapore Fixed Income Investment and the Asia Bond Fund, while the equity components include the firm’s Asia Pacific Fund, the Japan Growth Fund, Vanguard’s S&P500 Ucits ETF and the DB X-trackers Euro Stoxx 50 Ucits ETF…
Non-listed real estate fund of funds that invest in Asia-Pacific markets returned 15.1% in 2017, compared to the -3.3% recorded in 2016, according to a report from the Asian Association for Investors in Non-Listed Estate Vehicles. In comparison, European and global generated 6.6% and 4.4% respectively.
Bank of Virgin Islands-headquartered Bank of Asia, which is a digital global cross-border bank, has officially launched this month in the BVI with the roll-out of its online platform to clients. The bank’s initial services include core banking services in US dollars and expects to introduce debt cards and lending services in 2019. The bank is looking to provide banking services to offshore companies as well as trusts and HNWIs and families globally, particularly those in Asia and China…
Ethics and enforcement
Chinese respondents in a survey conducted by the CFA Institute to its society members reveal that they are relatively positive about the current level of ethical and professional conduct among investment professionals, with 39% expressing that the current level stands at “very ethical”. This figure is notably higher than how respondents felt in Australia (29%) and the rest of Asia-Pacific (20%)…
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has reprimanded and fined HSBC Broking Securities HK$9.6m ($1.14m) for regulatory breaches over bond sales. The regulator found that between 2015 and 2016, HSBC Broking failed to conduct proper product due diligence on individual bonds before making recommendations to clients, have an effective system in place to assess clients’ risk profile and provide adequate product information to its sales staff…
Social media and trading?
Bloomberg has launched a real-time feed of curated Twitter data, which is available to the company’s event-driven feeds (EDF) product, so that its clients can incorporate the most financially relevant content into their trading algorithms. “Our customers tell us that Twitter data is a vital part of their information-driven trading strategies, helping them uncover early trends and changes in sentiment,” Tony McManus, Bloomberg enterprise data chief information officer, said in a statement.
