From the press release desk this week…
ESG
BNP Paribas Asset Management has appointed Gabriel Wilson-Otto in the newly created role of head of stewardship for Asia-Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, Wilson-Otto will lead the firm’s stewardship activities in the region, including researching key corporate governance issues, undertaking direct and collaborative corporate engagement and working with policymakers on key issues relating to sustainable finance and investment. Before BNPP AM, Wilson-Otto was at Goldman Sachs, where he was head of GS Sustain Asia Pacific…
BNY Mellon has launched a range of reporting tools that will enable clients to track their portfolio investments based on ESG issues and United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) principles. Clients will have the ability to view their total ESG and UNGC scores on equities at the account versus relevant benchmarks over time. They will also have the ability to view the scores at the company level, providing an assessment of their sustainability. The data used for these new reports are sourced through an agreement with Arabesque S-Ray, which provides sustainability metrics…
Hedge funds
The global hedge fund industry saw net inflows of around $1.69bn in February, which makes the month this year the worst February for hedge fund flows in the last 10 years, according to an Evestment report. February has been the most positive month on average for the industry, with investors allocating an average of $17bn during the month in the last 10 years, and there has not been one February which produced an aggregate outflow from hedge funds. “If February is a bellwether for the year’s flows, as it has tended to be, then 2019 may be a difficult year for the industry,” the report said…
Regulation and enforcement
The Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (HKIFA) has welcomed the Securities and Futures Commission’s decision to extend the deadline of new regulations on online and offline product distribution, which includes the issue of defining “complex products”, according to Sally Wong, HKIFA’s CEO. “We are working with the regulators to have clarifications on some technical points so as to ensure consistency and smooth roll out. We appreciate very much that the regulators have taken heed of the industry’s concerns and queries,” she told FSA…
The SFC has reprimanded and fined BOCI Securities (BSL) HK$10m ($1.27m) over BSL’s internal system and control failures in its investment product selling practices. The SFC found that BSL had failed to comply with various regulatory requirements concerning client profiling, product due diligence and suitability assessment in its sale and distribution of investment products, which include mutual funds. For example, BSL failed to properly assess and determine its clients’ risk tolerance level and investment strategy in certain cases and conduct proper and adequate product due diligence on certain investment products…
Fund launches
China Asset Management in Hong Kong has launched the ChinaAMC Select Money Market Fund, which invests primarily in US dollar-denominated instruments and offers Hong Kong dollar share classes. “Amid rising global markets volatility, risk-averse investors are prompted to look for efficient cash management products that offer high liquidity with low level of risk in the space of money market instruments,” the firm said…
