The development is the latest in a series of moves by Swiss companies to position themselves in the Southeast Asia city-state that has come to be dubbed the “Switzerland of Asia”.
In a statement, Unigestion – which calls itself a “boutique” institutional asset manager – said its new capital markets licence, from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, “will significantly enhance the extent to which Unigestion can market its equities, private equity and hedge fund offerings in the region”. It added that this extra marketing flexibility comes at a time when growing numbers of Asian institutional investors are actively seeking out bespoke investment products.
Other recent moves aimed at boosting its Asian market presence, Unigestion noted, included the hiring over the past two years of two key individuals, Bill Foo and Aje Saigal, as Unigestion Asia chairman and non-executive director, Asia, respectively.
The company says it has $13.2bn in assets under management, 93% of which is manages on behalf of around 240 institutional investors and 7% on behalf of “a few high net worth families”. The stability of this client base “allows for long-term vision”, Unigestion says, in a statement on its website.
In addition to its Geneva and Singapore offices, Unigestion has offices in Zurich, London, New York, Paris and Guernsey.
To read how a majority of individuals from more than 200 organisations in more than 50 countries surveyed by PwC predicted that Singapore will overtake Switzerland as the top international financial centres in as little as two years’ time, click here.
