This week…
| “Fund management is boring” |
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Lim Tze Cheng, CEO of Malaysia’s Inter-Pacific Asset Management, said in a Bloomberg interview that “fund management is boring. “You find, you buy and there’s nothing else to do but sit and wait. The busy ones are those who try to trade…” |
| People moves |
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BNY Mellon Investment Management has appointed Deborah Bannon as Asia-Pacific head of consultant relationships and head of client services. In this newly created Hong Kong-based role, Bannon will be responsible for leading, managing and building the firm’s relationships with global consulting firms, including consultants dedicated to Asia-Pacific markets such as Japan, Australia, Greater China and Korea. She was previously from Mercer Investments (HK), where she was an executive director and investments business leader… BNY Mellon’s Australian asset manager Insight Investment has appointed Angus Woolhouse as global head of distribution. Before joining Insight Investment, he was previously Baring Asset Management’s global head of distribution. The firm also appointed Adam Kibble as a product specialist, covering areas in currency, multi-asset and fixed income. He was previously from Macquarie Funds Management, where he focused on fixed income, currency and commodities… Singapore’s GIC has appointed Wu Choy Peng as chief technology officer to provide integrated oversight for technology and data analytics, according to the firm’s website. Before joining GIC, she was Singtel’s group chief information officer… |
| From around the region |
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Allianz Global Investors has launched its Singapore-domiciled SGD Income Fund, which aims to provide long-term income and capital appreciation in Singapore Dollar terms by investing primarily in debt. The fund is only available for sale to retail and institutional investors in Singapore… Malaysia’s Public Mutual, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Public Bank, has launched an Asia-Pacific Dividend Fund. The fund will invest 75% to 98% in dividend-yielding stocks in domestic and regional markets… Eastspring Investments Indonesia and Phillip Securities Indonesia announced a strategic partnership for the fund manager to distribute its products through Phillip’s online trading platform, the Jakarta Globe reported. Eastspring will be offering three products through the online platform: two equity fund products that invest in Indonesia’s listed companies and a fixed income product… Australia-focused equities manager JCP Investment Partners has appointed Northern Trust for the provision of global custody, fund administration and associated services for its range of Australian fund products. The appointment comes after a competitive tender process and builds on the existing relationship between JCP, Northern Trust and mutual institutional clients for which JCP act as an investment manager… US insurer Mass Mutual has entered into an agreement to sell its Hong Kong-based business, Mass Mutual Asia, to Jack Ma-backed Yunfeng Financial and to other Asia-based investors, according to a statement from the firm. Mass Mutual will be receiving around $1.01bn and 800 million shares of Yunfeng Financial, while Yunfeng will gain 60% interest in MassMutual Asia. The other Asia-based investors are Meyu International Company, City-Scape (managed by GIC’s private equity group), Ant Financial Services, Sheen Light Development, and others… |
| Enforcement |
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The Monetary Authority of Singapore has prohibited Prem Hirubulan, an ex-OCBC Securities Private employee, for a period of seven years from providing any financial advisory and any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act. Hirubulan conducted unauthorised share trades from May 2010 to May 2011 in the trading accounts of three customers and misappropriated a sum of around S$81,000 ($59,340) from one of these customers. In 2016, he was convicted charges for these offences and was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment… |
