Santa Fe, New Mexico-headquartered Thornburg Investment Management is making moves to expand its market reach in Asia.
After establishing an office in Hong Kong last year, Thornburg has been awarded a licence for dealing in securities (Type 1) by the Securities and Futures Commission, according to the regulator’s records.
The licence will enable the firm to offer its collective investment schemes to investors in the SAR, the records show, noting that the products can only be sold to professional investors in the territory.
FSA sought more information from Thornburg, but it was not able to elaborate on its business plans in Asia in time for publication.
The Hong Kong entity – Thornburg Investment Management (Asia) – has Andrew Gu and Zhang Yong as its responsible officers. Both Gu and Zhang are managing directors and co-heads of Asia (ex-Japan), responsible for leading the sales and distribution efforts across the firm’s institutional, intermediary and international lines of business in Asia, according to the firm’s website.
The move comes after the firm announced in August that it was bringing its investment solutions to institutional and high-net-worth investors in Taiwan. At the time, it appointed Concord Capital Management as its private placement in Taiwan to help Thornburg market its global equities and fixed income Ucits and separately managed account solutions to investors in the market, the statement said.
Concord Capital is a master agent for offshore funds in Taiwan. Other firms it represents include KBI Investors, GAM Investments and Carmignac in France.
Thornburg established its office in Hong Kong as its Asia-Pacific hub to serve institutional and high net worth clients in the region, the statement added.
Before Hong Kong and Taiwan, the firm had already started offering six of its mutual fund products to accredited investors in Singapore, according to records from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Ucits funds launched to accredited investors in Singapore
| Fund | Fund category | Fund size | Date launched in Singapore |
| Thornburg Developing World | Emerging markets equities | $13.3m | 2013 |
| Thornburg Strategic Income | Global fixed income | $28m | 2018 |
| Thornburg Limited Term Income | US fixed income | $149m | 2017 |
| Thornburg Investment Income Builder | Aggressive mixed-asset | $20.5m | 2017 |
| Thornburg International Equity | Global equities | $19.9m | 2012 |
| Thornburg Global Opportunities | Global equities | $26.4m | 2017 |
Source: FE Fundinfo
Founded in 1982, Thornburg manages around $41bn in assets across US-domiciled funds, institutional accounts, separate accounts for HNWIs and Ucits funds for non-US investors, according to the statement.
