FROM THE PRESS RELEASE DESK THIS WEEK…
People moves
HSBC Private Banking has made several hires to service the fast-growing high net worth market in the Philippines. Valerie See-Tang and Janice Marie Laurel have been appointed as Manila-based relationship managers. See-Tang was previously a HSBC branch head in Quezon City in the Philippines, while Laurel was a HSBC premier team leader at the Ortigas branch in Pasay City. In Hong Kong, HSBC PB also hired Carmen Wong as a relationship manager for the Philippines desk. Previously she was at JP Morgan, where she was a relationship manager for the Philippines market…
T Rowe Price has appointed Priscilla Leung to the newly created role of head of intermediary business for Greater China. Based in Hong Kong, Leung will be responsible for managing and building out the firm’s financial intermediary business in Greater China, with an initial focus on the Hong Kong market. She will lead a team of relationship management professionals to service private banks, retail banks, insurance companies and independent financial advisors in Greater China. She will report to Elsie Chan, head of distribution for Asia ex-Japan. Before T Rowe, Leung was at Fidelity International, where she was head of intermediary for Hong Kong…
Aberdeen Standard Investments has appointed Robert Penaloza as head of Thailand. Penaloza was most recently ASI’s head of Australian equities. He joined Aberdeen Asset Management 22 years ago and has also held roles in Thailand, including chief investment officer and CEO. Replacing Penaloza in his Australia equities role is Michelle Lopez, who was previously the firm’s deputy head of Australian equities…
Investec Asset Management has appointed Esther Chan and Alan Siow as senior investment professionals for its emerging markets corporate debt team. Both will report to Victoria Harling, head of emerging market corporate debt, with Chan based in Cape Town and Siow in Hong Kong. Chan was previously at Ashmore Asset Management, where she was a portfolio manager within the emerging markets corporate high yield team, while Siow previously oversaw Bluebay Asset Management’s emerging markets corporate high income funds…
London-headquartered CQS, which manages around $17.4bn in assets, has hired the team managing the Counterpoint Asian Macro Fund, which includes Hong Kong-based portfolio manager Geoff Barker and the members of his team, who are also based in the SAR. Barker will manage the same macro fund at CQS, according to the statement, which noted that the completion of the move is subject to SFC approval…
The CFA Institute has appointed Margaret Franklin at the new CEO and president effective September, replacing Paul Smith, who will be leaving the firm at the end of 2019. Franklin is the institute’s first woman CEO in its 73-year history. Most recently, she was president at BNY Mellon Wealth Management in Canada and head of international wealth management for North America. Before that, she held leadership roles at Marret Private Wealth, State Street Global Advisors and Barclays Global Investors…
Business moves
Mahindra Asset Management and Manulife Investment Management have entered into a joint venture agreement, with the Indian firm owning 51% of the stake. The joint venture will leverage on Mahindra AM’s domestic market and Manulife IM’s global asset management capabilities. This will mark the first time that the Canadian firm will tap India’s $370bn mutual fund market. India’s mutual fund market is largely untapped, as a percentage of the country’s GDP, India’s mutual fund industry is low at about 12%, which compares to the 114% in the US…
Allfunds and Credit Suisse have entered into an agreement to combine Credit Suisse’s open architecture investment fund activities, Credit Suisse Invest Lab, with Allfunds. The combined business will distribute around 78,000 funds and ETFs to 700 distributors across 45 countries and AuA of around $568.1bn. The transaction will include the transfer of all shares in Credit Suisse Invest Lab, its team, technology and related service and distribution agreements by Credit Suisse to Allfunds. Invest Lab’s management team will take senior leadership positions within the combined business and Credit Suisse will use the platform as part of its client offering…
ESG
Sustainable investments now make up a fifth of Asian investor portfolios, according to a survey conducted by Standard Chartered Private Bank. China leads the region, with an average of 24% of their portfolios invested in sustainable investments. However, there remains a number of barriers to sustainable investing, including the concern that they provide lower returns compared to mainstream investments…
Hedge funds
Investors have redeemed around $3.78bn from hedge funds in May, bringing year-to-date flows to a negative $25.43bn, according to an Evestment report. Performance losses reduced assets further, pushing total industry AUM down to $3.24trn. “Overall industry results point to continued consolidation in the industry as investors gravitate to funds that are performing strongly and/or that are successfully marketed,” the report said…
