Weekly Digest: Australian pensions eye India infra; Dai-ichi Life pivots to alts
TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK
ANZ Group Holdings is in discussions with Australian pension funds about investing in India’s infrastructure assets and its debt market, according to a senior bank official.
"We are currently in talks with a few Australian pension fund to bring them to India,” Mark Whelan, group executive of institutional at the bank, said in an interview in Mumbai. “We are looking at establishing a holistic business relationship with them."
ANZ will help pension funds by identifying suitable assets as well as connect them to potential investment opportunities as an intermediary, Whelan said, without naming the funds.
Source: The Economic Times; Bloomberg
Japan's Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. has begun to include more alternative investments in its ¥33.9 trillion ($219 billion) portfolio.
The company is also looking at increasing mergers and acquisitions and will only start buying 30-year JGBs again once yields rise to 2%.
“We have to be cautious and carefully examine risks,” said Tetsuya Kikuta, the insurer’s CEO. “But we have to shift a certain amount to assets like private credit, private equity, infrastructure and real estate.”
While yields on Japanese government debt are too low, foreign bonds have too much currency risk. And the company is cutting its holdings of domestic equities, which are surging, to avoid too much exposure to the asset class.
Source: Bloomberg
Hong Kong welcomes all forms of capital that are legitimate, regardless of whether they are from a man in the street, a wealthy family, or a sovereign fund, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said.
He made the remarks in a media briefing when asked whether the government planned to change its approach when approaching people who wish to set up a family office in Hong Kong, following the Dubai prince, Sheikh Ali Al Maktoum’s controversial suspension of the establishment of his planned $500 million family office in Hong Kong last month.
“Provided that they are legitimate businessmen, legitimate asset owners, they are always welcome. And in all the things we pursue, we have to balance the benefit with the risks. I think in this overall thing, provided that the money is legitimate money, we should take all reasonable actions to attract them to come,” Lee said.
Source: Hong Kong SAR government
OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS
AUSTRALIA
UniSuper committed up to $400 million to Macquarie Green Energy and Climate Opportunities Fund (MGECO), investing in the global energy transition and climate opportunities.
MGECO is an open-ended fund that invests in large scale, mature sustainable technologies to support the transition to net zero and help meet sustainable energy needs in Australia and overseas.
The portfolio is expected to include six seed investments across Australia, Asia, US, and Europe. These businesses will provide initial access to approximately 100 underlying projects across onshore and offshore wind, solar, storage and carbon related projects.
Source: UniSuper
CHINA
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced five measures on April 19 to further enhance the Stock Connect between Hong Kong mainland China.
These included expanding the scope of eligible exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the Stock Connect; incorporating real estate investment trusts (REITs) into the Stock Connect; and supporting the inclusion of renminbi-denominated stocks into southbound Stock Connect.
Details of the measures will be announced in due course, the regulator said.
Source: China Securities Regulatory Commission
BNP Paribas has hired close to 30 people to launch its securities operation in China, re-entering the market after exiting a local joint venture 17 years ago, people familiar with the matter said.
The French bank will initially focus on building out its brokerage, research and asset management units after receiving regulatory approval last week. The firm has opted not to expand its onshore investment-banking business, according to sources.
China’s Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement last week that BNP Paribas’ securities business had been approved in Shanghai with registered capital of Rmb1.1 billion ($152 million), three years after the application.
Source: Bloomberg; CSRC
JAPAN
Real estate asset manager Gaw Capital Partners’ Japan multi-family real estate investment platform, in which Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and an institutional investor are invested, has partnered with Alyssa Partners to acquire a portfolio of residential assets in Tokyo from a major Japanese conglomerate.
The portfolio consists of 29 multifamily properties, with an average age of less than three years. With total gross area of approximately 30,000 square meters, the assets comprise 835 contemporary apartment units.
Source: Gaw Capital Partners
KOREA
The National Pension Service (NPS) lost W1.66 trillion ($1.2 billion) in domestic stock values in the first quarter of 2024 as shares in the battery sector tumbled on the electric vehicle industry slowdown.
NPS lost its stock holding value primarily in battery and battery materials stocks; LG Energy Solution Ltd., POSCO Holdings Inc., LG Chem Ltd., POSCO Future M Co., and Samsung SDI Co.
Given that NPS has maintained its holdings in the five companies since the end of last year, the firms’ share price decline has driven a plunge in value.
As of March 29, the state pension fund held a 5% stake or more in each of 276 listed companies in Korea. Of the total 293 listed Korean companies in its portfolio, the holding value in 191 firms declined due to falling share prices or the pension fund’s divestment.
Source: Korea Economic Daily
SINGAPORE
Broadgate, an office-led campus in the City of London and a joint venture between British Land and GIC, has signed an agreement with hedge fund firm Citadel and Citadel Securities to lease over 250,000 square feet of workspace.
The deal includes options to lease up to another 130,000 square feet, at Broadgate’s new 750,000 square feet development, 2 Finsbury Avenue.
2 Finsbury Avenue comprises dual high-rise towers, the 36-storey East Tower and the West Tower at 21-storeys.
Source: British Land
The above briefs have been curated from third-party sources and news releases.