From the press release desk this week…
People moves
Macquarie Investment Management has made two senior appointments in the region, with Carl Jacobsohn named as head of Asia and Bas Van Buuren as head of Asia distribution. Jacobsohn replaced Axel Maier, who retired from the firm earlier this year. In addition to his new responsibilities of leading the strategy for the region, he will continue to lead the firm’s Korea business. Van Buuren, who reports to Jacobsohn, will focus on the distribution in Asia. Before joining the firm, he was Aegon Asset Management’s regional head for Asia. The firm manages around $23bn in assets on behalf of clients in Asia, with distribution coverage in Greater China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia…
Schroder Investment Management has appointed Michelle Han as head of marketing for Asia-Pacific. Based in Singapore, she will lead the Asia-Pacific marketing function and will focus on designing, coordinating and driving the firm’s marketing strategies and activities across the region. She will report regionally to Asia-Pacific CEO Lieven Debruyne and functionally to James Cardew, global head of marketing. Before Schroders, Han was previously Capital Group’s Asia-Pacific head of marketing…
Mutual funds
Thirteen of the top 20 most reviewed products in May among Asia-Pacific investors on Evestment’s mutual fund research platform are equity funds, according to the firm’s monthly viewership report. In March, almost all funds on the list were equity funds, with the exception of two fixed income funds. This time, a hedge fund, multi-asset and fixed income funds made it on the list…
Source: Evestment
Regulation
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has released a consultation about improving the readability and design of advisory and sales forms. The proposed guidelines set out key principles financial advisers should incorporate in the design of their forms used to conduct fact-finding and needs-analysis, and to make suitable product recommendations. Examples of these guidelines include using “plain English” and not using financial or legal jargon, using short sentences and using the active voice…
The Asia Securities Industry and Finacial Markets Association (Asifma) has released a best practices report for anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-client (KYC) in Asia. The report addresses the key developments needed in Asia to raise and harmonise standards in a fragmented market and ensure the region is prepared for incoming challenges. “Differing guidelines and regulations among jurisdictions in Asia as well as divergent interpretation of these guidelines and regulations among financial institutions have led to fragmentation, inconsistencies and varying practices among firms,” Mark Austen, Asifma CEO, said in a statement…
Fintech
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has entered into a fintech cooperation agreement with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). Under the agreement, the SFC and the FSRA will cooperate on information sharing, potential joint innovation projects and referrals of innovative firms seeking to enter one another’s markets…
Besides the SFC, the MAS has also signed a memorandum of understanding with India’s Department of Economic Affairs to strengthen cooperation in fintech innovation between Singapore and India through the establishment of a joint working group. The joint group will be co-chaired by MAS deputy managing director Jacqueline Loh and India Department of Financial Services (DFS) additional secretary Ravi Mital…
Green bonds
The MAS has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to work together to accelerate the growth of green bond markets in Asia. Under the MOU, both signatories will encourage green bond issuances by financial institutions in Asia…
