STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK
People moves
First State Investments has appointed Niall Mills as head of global infrastructure investments of the unlisted infrastructure business, according to a statement from the firm. London-based Mills joined the firm’s senior management team as a partner in the European infrastructure business in 2008. The unlisted infrastructure business takes significant stakes in companies, often 100% ownership. First State Investments manages $8.4bn in unlisted infrastructure equity investments and has been actively investing in infrastructure since 1994…
A senior employee at Franklin Templeton in the US was fired after a video of her threatening a man in New York in a racist attack went viral on Monday, as reported by FSA’s sister publication, International Adviser. Amy Cooper, the firm’s head of insurance investment solutions, got in an argument with a man when he asked if she could abide by park rules requiring her dog to be on a lead. He started to film the incident when she responded angrily. “I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” Cooper said in the video. Cooper was initially put on “administrative leave” by the firm. But in a tweet on Tuesday afternoon, Franklin Templeton said that it had made the decision to terminate the employee. Cooper has since apologised to the man and his family. She has also been forced to surrender her rescue dog as the video showed her handling it roughly…
Hedge funds
Assets of hedge funds globally dropped below $3.5trn for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2018, according to a Preqin report. The economic fallout from Covid-19 has compounded the recent challenges facing hedge funds, with the industry recording its eighth consecutive quarter of outflows. The largest redemptions came from macro strategies ($10.8bn in outflows), followed by CTAs ($10.7bn). Only niche strategies recorded inflows, with 54% of such funds experiencing inflows…
Covid-19 relief efforts
Amundi and its employees are contributing at least $20,000 to the Red Cross in Singapore and Thailand, and Red Crescent in Malaysia, in a move to support Covid-19 relief efforts in Southeast Asia, according to a statement from the firm. The donation is a combination of a corporate contribution as well as an employee dollar-for-dollar fundraising effort across the region. The donation will go towards supporting and providing relief to vulnerable individuals and groups in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, including low-income families, workers facing a loss of income, seniors living in isolation and individuals under quarantine during the Covid-19 outbreak…
IFCs
High net worth individuals (HNWIs) in Singapore are increasingly turning to international finance centres (IFCs) for the safeguarding of their assets, according to a research conducted by banking market research firm East & Partners and commissioned by BVI Finance, the marketing arm of the British Virgin Island’s financial services industry. According to the research, 32% of HNWIs surveyed are planning to increase their involvement with IFCs in the year ahead. According to the study, 29% of HNWIs are already using IFCs to protect their investments…
