New York Life Investment Management, which manages $500bn in assets globally, is a multi-boutique asset manager with nine affiliates.
The firm’s Hong Kong entity received a type 1 (dealing in securities) licence from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) last month, the regulator’s records show.
A type 1 licence enables a firm to sell mutual funds to clients, according to SFC regulations.
However, the firm has not received a type 4 (advising on securities) licence, which is required to provide investment advice, nor did it receive a type 9 (asset management) licence, which is necessary to manage assets on a discretionary basis.
The records noted that New York Life IM can provide services only to professional investors.
FSA sought more information about the firm’s plans in the region, but it was not able to provide more details in time for publication.
The firm’s products include 41 “Mainstay”-branded mutual funds in the US, which are managed by different affiliates, as well as 25 US-listed ETFs managed by Index IQ.
Index IQ also has five ETFs listed in Europe, which were launched in 2017, according to its website.
The firm’s boutiques also manage alternative products, including real estate and private equity investments.
One of the firm’s affiliates, Candriam, has seven mutual funds available for sale to accredited investors in Singapore, according to MAS records.
In total, there were 21 firms that received licences from the SFC in November to conduct investment-regulated activities in Hong Kong, according to the regulator’s records.
Headed by ex-BNPP manager
In Hong Kong, New York Life IM’s registered responsible officers are Tino Moorrees and Yoshiaki Asada, according to SFC records.
Moorrees is the firm’s Hong Kong-based head of Asia business development – a role he assumed in February 2018, according to his Linkedin profile.
Moorrees was formerly BNP Paribas Asset Management’s CEO for Hong Kong and head of sales and marketing for Asia for three years until 2017. At the time, the firm said he left to pursue other opportunities and he was replaced by Rakesh Vengayil, who also assumed the role of deputy CEO for Asia-Pacific. Moorrees joined BNPP AM in 2010, first as CEO for Indonesia and then CEO for Japan.
Elsewhere in Asia, New York Life IM has an office in Tokyo, which opened in 2016 to service institutional investors in Japan, according to a statement from the firm at the time.
Separately, parent insurance group New York Life was formerly set up in Hong Kong until 2010, when Ace Group, now Chubb Life, acquired the operations in the SAR and in Korea, according to an Ace statement.
