FROM THE PRESS RELEASE DESK THIS WEEK…
People moves
AIA has appointed Shrikant Bhat as Singapore-based head of funds, according to his Linkedin post. He will be responsible for launching and developing the firm’s funds platform. Before AIA, he was managing director and regional head of investments at Citi. Prior to that, he was the bank’s managing director and head of wealth management (from 2009-2016). “After 23 wonderful years in Citigroup, I have joined an equally exciting organisation – AIA Group. To two great organisations, who also happen to be strategic partners,” he said in his post…
Capital Group has appointed Guy Henriques as London-based head of Europe and Asia distribution. He will join the firm in November. Henriques has around 30 years of industry experience. Before Capital Group, Henriques held various leadership role at Schroders, including head of UK distribution and CEO for Latin America, president for Japan and head of official institutions and head of institutional for Asia-Pacific…
JP Morgan Asset Management has appointed Nick Kim as Hong Kong-based ETF specialist in the firm’s Asia beta strategies team. Kim will be responsible for strengthening ETF client relationships in Asia, with a focus on bringing the firm’s existing global ETF capabilities in the US and Europe to investors in the region. He will report to Sean Cunningham, head of Asia ETFs. Before JPM AM, Kim was vice president for global ETF sales at Mirae Asset Global Investment.
Singapore-based robo alternative platform Xen Technologies has appointed Tim Janke as chief financial officer. Based in New York, Janke will be responsible for the firm’s overall financial strategy, including financial planning and analysis, financial reporting, accounting, tax and regulatory reporting matters. Before Xen, Janke was a senior vice president at State Street, where he led the finance teams to analyse trends in relationships across asset managers and owners. Before that, he was also Blackstone’s first Asia CFO…
MSCI has appointed Chitra Hepburn as head of ESG client coverage for Asia-Pacific. Based in Shanghai, Hepburn will be responsible for driving the growth of MSCI ESG research in the Asia-Pacific market. She will report to Jack Lin, head of Asia-Pacific client coverage. Before MSCI, Hepburn was managing director at ESG Global, where she was responsible for working with issuers to create and implement their ESG metrics in preparation for investor roadshows. Before that, she was Greater China head of sustainability, corporate communications and CSR for Bayer…
Business moves
Vanguard has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Seoul-based NH Investment and Securities. The MOU will provide the opportunity for the Korean firm to draw on Vanguard’s research and capabilities in the advisory business, model portfolios and retirement planning. NH Investment and Securities is one of the largest securities in Korea and offers a broad range of financial services, including institutional sales, wealth management and investment advisory services, corporate finance and trading…
London-based wine investment company Cult Wines, which manages around £100m ($124.3m) in assets, has opened its first China office in Shanghai to tap opportunities arising from the increasing demand for fine wine investment in China, according to a statement from the firm. This adds to other offices the firm has in Asia, including Hong Kong and Singapore. Separately, it also released its 2019 fine wine investment report today, which shows that long-term investment returns for fine wines have been higher than onshore Chinese equities. The Liv1000 Index had an annualised return rate of 6.9% over the last 10 years ending December, which compares to the 3.2% annualised return of the CSI 300 Index during the same period…
ESG
ESG investing is not as significant for young investors as so many have claimed, according to a Calastone study. Ethical considerations are ranked the lowest by global millennials, particularly in Hong Kong, with only 26% of them considering investment in ethical funds, causes and products an important criterion in investing. Instead, long-term returns (58%) and low fees (52%) were valued highly by Hong Kong millennials…
