The fund house said the official launch of the Threadneedle (Lux) Developed Asia Growth and Income Fund marks the first in a series of Asian funds to be launched in Singapore, as it build out its local investment and manufacturing capabilities of Asian assets and establish its first investment hub outside of the UK and US.
The scheme will be co-managed by Ng Soo Nam, head of Asian equities along with Christine Seng, Asian equity fund manager, who are the part of the five-member Asian equities team who joined the company in October.
Raymundo Yu, Threadneedle’s Asia Pacific chairman said: “It marks a significant first step as we embark on our next phase of accelerated growth in the region and the launch of our local investment and manufacturing capabilities of Asian assets. Singapore will be our first investment hub outside of the UK and US.”
The fund will focus on investing principally in companies listed or domiciled in the developed markets of the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan, or those exercising the predominant part of their economic activity in such markets. It also has a provision to invest in other securities, including convertible debt securities, real estate investment trusts and money market instruments, as opportunities present.
According to Nam, head of Asian equities, Asia ex Japan is “still” the fastest-growing region in the world.
“The investment focus of the developed Asia growth and income fund is on moderate capital appreciation coming from investing in resilient businesses, and combining this with dividend yields to deliver more consistent returns to shareholders,” Nam said.
As part of expanding its Asia business, the fund house today also said it has poached in Henderson’s Grace Chow for the role of head of marketing and communications for Asia Pacific.
Headquartered in UK, Threadneedle established its presence in Asia in 2008 and has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Australia.
Threadneedle manages assets worth $148bn as at 31 December 2013 and is owned by Ameriprise Financial, a leading US diversified financial services company with $771bn in assets under management and administration.
