FROM THE PRESS RELEASE DESK THIS WEEK…
WFOE update
Blackrock’s private fund management wholly-foreign owned enterprise (PFM WFOE) in China has received an investment advisory licence from the Asset Management Association of China. The new licence allows PFMs to provide investment advisory services to private asset management products issued by onshore securities and futures firms and their subsidiaries, as well as fund management companies and their subsidiaries in China. Only a few foreign PFMs have received this licence, including Neuberger Berman and Fullerton Fund Management…
People moves
Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) intends to be an Australian retirement solutions provider with the appointment of Jason Nyilas as Australian head of retirement and product strategy. Before ASI, Nyilas was at EY, where he was seconded to Malaysia to develop the retirement framework for the Employees’ Provident Fund, which is the compulsory savings and retirement fund for private sector workers in the country…
Singapore-based real estate investment management firm SC Capital Partners has appointed Felix Chan as managing director for the firm’s Recap fund series. The Recap funds focus on acquiring, developing, redeveloping and operating real estate and real estate-related assets. Before SC Capital, Chan held senior roles at GIC Private, including deputy head of real estate in Japan and senior vice president in both Tokyo and Shanghai…
ESG
Fidelity has launched its proprietary sustainability ratings, which are available to the firm’s investment teams as an additional source of insight. The ratings’ coverage includes 3,000 equity and bond issuers, and divides this universe into 99 sub-sectors, each with industry-specific criteria against which the issuer is assessed relative to its peers. The rating system draws upon the assessment of the firm’s 180 equities and fixed income analysts and will be updated annually or following a change of policy or an exceptional event at the company…
MSCI has expanded its range of climate indexes with the launch of MSCI Climate Change Indexes, which add to the existing MSCI Low Carbon Indexes and MSCI Global Environmental Indexes. The new indexes re-weight securities based on MSCI’s low carbon transition score, which consistently measures a company’s exposure to low carbon transition risk, carbon emissions and fossil fuel reserves and its exposure to opportunities including alternative energy and clean technology. The new indexes can be used as a standalone index or as an overlay to an overall ESG strategy…
Regulators
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) had their eighth regular high-level meeting to discuss a range of matters concerning cross-boundary enforcement. At the meeting, the two regulators explored ways to further strengthen cross-boundary enforcement cooperation, including a notification mechanism for cases involving companies listed both in Hong Kong and the mainland and organising thematic joint training and case study workshops to share investigation techniques and experiences. The regulators also appear to be enjoying the discussions, as shown in a photo sent by the SFC…
Separately, Julia Leung, SFC’s deputy CEO and executive director for intermediaries, said that the regulator has updated its IT systems to enhance its gatekeeping function. “Our new licencing forms which became mandatory in April were a kind of software update,” she said during the SFC’s compliance forum. “The new forms allow us to collect and analyse the relevant data upfront.” She added that the regulator has flattened its organisational structure to streamline its workflow process. The result is that the SFC now is more efficient when processing licencing applications…
