Neuberger Berman has filed an application with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to launch seven products, according to the regulator’s website.
The product are the Uncorrelated Strategies Fund, the 5G Connectivity Fund, the Absolute Alpha Fund, the Corporate Hybrid Bond Fund, the Emerging Market Debt Sustainable Investment Grade Blend Fund, the Global Flexible Credit Fund and the Global Opportunistic Bond Fund.
Once approved, they will be available to retail investors in the Lion City.
It will be the first time that the Ireland-domiciled 5G Connectivity Fund will be available in Asia while Bloomberg data shows that the Global Flexible Credit Fund was just launched.
The other five are already available to accredited investors in Singapore, according to FE Fundinfo.
FSA contacted the firm for more information but it was unable to reply in time for publication.
In Hong Kong, the firm runs 15 SFC-authorised funds. In Singapore, it manages 38 products for accredited investors and 24 for retail investors, according to FE Fundinfo.
NB had AUM of $330bn as of the end of March this year, according to its website.
Strategies
The Uncorrelated Strategies Fund is Ireland-domiciled and aims for an average return of 5% over cash after fees and expenses over a three-year market cycle “from a diversified portfolio of uncorrelated investment strategies”, according to its prospectus.
The 5G Connectivity Fund aims to achieve a target average return of 3-5% over its benchmark before fees by investing in global companies involved in “next generation connectivity”, meaning mobile internet and 5G technology.
The Absolute Alpha Fund takes long and synthetic short positions mainly in US equities, seeking a positive absolute return over a market cycle irrespective of market conditions, the prospectus noted.
The Corporate Hybrid Bond Fund invests in investment grade and sub-investment grade corporate hybrid bonds based on fundamental bottom-up analysis.
The Emerging Market Debt Sustainable Investment Grade Blend Fund seeks a target average return of 1% over the benchmark before fees by investing in a blend of investment grade rated hard and local emerging market currency denominated debt, both government and corporate, which meet sustainable criteria, according to the prospectus.
The Global Flexible Credit Fund invests in a diversified mix of global fixed rate and floating rate debt securities, including high income securities.
The Global Opportunistic Bond Fund invests in fixed rate and floating rate debt securities with a focus on downside protection, the prospectus added.
Other firms are also preparing products for retail sale in Singapore, including Natixis Investment Management, Fullerton Fund Management and HSBC Global Asset Management. The products are still waiting for approval from MAS, according to the regulator’s website.
Separately, in April this year, NB applied for wholly-owned mutual fund license in China, which permits foreign asset managers to access China’s retail investor market.
