Super fund executives reveal top post-merger challenges
Australia's retirement funds are increasingly merging to gain scale and investing heft. But these consolidations offer investing challenges that need to be overcome.
All eyes on quotas as China expands QDLP scheme
As the Qualified Domestic Limited Partnership (QDLP) scheme expands in Hainan, foreign asset managers are turning their focus on product development and demand.
Digitalisation among the biggest challenges for COOs
Many organisations start their digital transformation with technology, but that’s the wrong approach to take, COOs said.
Tokyo accelerates reforms to advance status as global financial city
Backed by government action to remove regulatory bottlenecks, the city is moving swiftly to ensure ease of doing business for international firms.
Tokyo accelerates reforms to advance status as global financial city
Backed by government action to remove regulatory bottlenecks, the city is moving swiftly to ensure ease of doing business for international firms.
Why HK stocks are attracting Chinese, global asset owners
The Hong Kong-listed shares of mainland companies should receive more interest as Chinese pensions and global investors seek to benefit from relatively low valuations.
Information overload: how investors can make sense of data
As more institutions integrate data into their investment processes, the challenge now is making sense of the data, panellists said.
Aviva Singlife appoints group CIO after merger
Kim Rosenkilde has been appointed group chief investment officer at the Singapore arm of the British insurance company after a $2 billion merger with a fintech firm.
Allianz planning private credit investing expansion in India
The German insurer's recent investment in Kotak’s real estate debt platform is the latest sign that global asset owners are continuing to eye Indian private credit strategies.
Dai-ichi Life takes the wheel in Japan’s drive for ESG
Dai-ichi Life has set concrete ESG goals and made impact investments regularly, while Japan is seen leading other Asian markets when it comes to ESG.
Insto roundup: Indonesia aims for $200b AUM for SWF; Mitsui Sumitomo launches $4.6b M&A fund
AUSfund to close; Michelle Boucher shifts from Cbus to First Super; Adia and CDPQ become anchor investors into Indian property developer Macrotech; Indonesia's president sets $200b size for new sovereign wealth fund; Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance to invest $4.55b via new M&A fund; Netherlands' PGGM commis A$350m to Australian property fund and more.
Partner Insights
Three 'Ps' that make your sustainable investing the ‘real deal’
Although sustainable funds have seen increasing inflows amid growing environmental awareness and the spotlight on social issues due to Covid-19, the industry still lacks a standard definition of sustainable investing. Nicholette MacDonald-Brown, head of European blend equities at Schroders, explains the firm’s three-pronged approach of people, process and purpose.
Why Asian and Hong Kong dollar bonds offer a relatively reliable route to resilience
With Hong Kong dollar (HKD) bonds already regarded as an asset-liability matching instrument for locally-based investors, the ongoing lower-for-longer rates environment has given them even greater potential to play an increasingly relevant role in institutional portfolios.
Drivers of change – macro forces and the new normal for insurance
In a recent webinar, we asked insurance industry experts how their investment teams can best plan to meet their return targets when facing a mixture of market volatility, low returns, a tenuous economic recovery and geopolitical uncertainty.
Emerging market corporate debt, explained
In a recent webinar, AsianInvestor spoke to top experts on emerging market (EM) corporate debt to get a better sense of the opportunities, risks and rewards that investors should be familiar with. To continue the conversation, we followed up with panelists to further explore some key issues.
Making the most of alternative data
In today’s fast-paced trading environment, there is growing demand for unique data streams to help guide investment decisions. In a recent webinar, AsianInvestor spoke to experts in the field of alternative data to gain a more in-depth understanding of the latest available options, from geotagging to sentiment analysis through natural language processing, and other unique sources of alpha.
ESG and securities lending: Asia charts a course towards alignment
There is growing investor interest in managing the environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors inherent in securities lending – especially concerning voting rights – finds a consultation conducted by AsianInvestor and the Pan Asia Securities Lending Association (PASLA).
World Gold Council 2021 outlook: continued growth amid market corrections and low rates
Investors in Asia Pacific will likely see the low interest rate environment as an opportunity to add risk assets in the hope that the economic recovery is on the immediate horizon, but the case for owning gold in portfolios remains strong, according to Jaspar Crawley, Head of Distribution, APAC, at The World Gold Council.
Three trends driving the future of investment processes
BNY Mellon’s new report looks at key drivers shaping the investment industry that buy-side leaders should not miss.
Finding factors to fit economic cycles
By applying the ‘Investment Clock’ framework, investors can link factor behaviour across economic cycles in the US.
Investing in the green economy - sizing the opportunity
Although the green economy represents an investment opportunity equivalent to a $4 trillion market cap, the rapid growth in recent years needs to accelerate further to achieve the goal of keeping global warming within 2 degrees.
Taming digital assets for institutional exposure
The development of institutional grade financial infrastructure such as exchanges and custody arrangements has made digital assets more accessible to traditional fund houses, ETF issuers and other types of investors. Yet more consideration is needed about how to allocate to these assets and also mitigate the risks.
Taking a targeted approach to sustainability
As investors increasingly recognise the risks and opportunities from the low carbon transition, they are incorporating a wider set of considerations into their decision making, including carbon, green revenues and environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.
In-depth
Aviva Singlife appoints group CIO after merger
Kim Rosenkilde has been appointed group chief investment officer at the Singapore arm of the British insurance company after a $2 billion merger with a fintech firm.
Archegos debacle highlights risk for next-gen investors
The financial meltdown of the family office has highlighted a need for greater risk control and a more cautious approach to portfolio diversification among its peers.
Why green infrastructure needs innovative finance to thrive
De-risking and green securitisation will help unlock much-needed institutional capital for sustainable infrastructure projects in Asia, say executives at multilateral development banks.
KIC aims to scale up tech investing with San Francisco office
The Korean sovereign wealth fund is joining hands with Hyundai Heavy Industries to better sniff out and assess new technology investments in the US.
Magazine
Events
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Feb 3, 2021
COO Investment Week
COO Investment Week (13 - 15 Apr), will convene the region’s top asset manager and owner COOs to discuss best practices in business operations and transformation.
Webinar
Mar 30, 2021
Early warning signals: planning your portfolio in a new era
Investors globally are striving for as much clarity as possible to shape and support their portfolio planning. As the unparalleled uncertainty over the past 12 months in macroeconomics and financial markets continues to linger, it is more important than ever to be able to make well-informed investment decisions.
Across asset classes, sectors and geographies, effective early warning signals play an essential role in helping investors translate data into actionable insights.
This interactive and timely session will provide case studies and practical perspectives from experienced practitioners to help investors overcome the challenges they face by having the right information at the right time.
Key talking points we will discuss include:
- How investors have shifted and adapted their approach in a post-pandemic era to how they assess the economic and investment landscape – and identify new opportunities
- How investors try to pinpoint and interpret early warning signals in their target markets and (public and private) assets
- Tools and techniques to enhance returns yet mitigate risk – including making sense of broad and deep datasets
- The extent to which data and analytics are used and applied to derive insights and drive investment decisions
Speakers
- Tim Riordan, Portfolio manager, Aware Super
- Andy Ji, PhD, Head of Research, Blue Fire AI
- Ross Allen, Managing director, IHS Markit
- Andrew Crooke, Strategy and content director, AsianInvestor
Join us for an in-depth discussion on this exciting area.
Oct 29, 2020
Emerging Markets Corporate Debt - Navigating the Unknown
Over the past two decades, the value of outstanding US dollar-denominated Emerging Markets (EM) corporate debt has increased by a factor of 20, to over $1.5 trillion – a larger asset pool even than US dollar EM sovereign debt, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. This growth has created unique opportunities for investors, particularly those rethinking their asset allocation and risk-reward profiles while seeking diversification and less correlated return streams.
In our upcoming webinar in partnership with Credit Suisse, our expert panel will address questions such as:
- During Covid-19, how well did EM corporate bonds perform and why?
- What are the key risk-reward factors that distinguish EM corporate from EM sovereign debt – and how are they influenced by historical default rates?
- How can EM corporate bond valuations create attractive investment opportunities in countries where sovereign ratings are relatively low?
- When does EM investment grade corporate debt offer an attractive alternative to developed market credit, vis-a-vis the underlying country exposures?
- Which unique considerations are relevant to EM bonds, particularly when it comes to transparency, governance and auditing?
Join us for an in-depth discussion on this exciting area within fixed income.
Oct 30, 2020
Making the most of alternative data
There is ever-growing demand in today’s fast-paced world of finance for unique data streams to help guide investment decisions. From geotagging to sentiment analysis through natural language processing, a myriad of options are now available. Data management professionals, quants, research teams, and data scientists are all looking for new sources of alpha to help differentiate their offerings – but even the best raw data cannot be useful in isolation, and requires processing and context. Our panel of experts looks at which alternative sources are truly useful, and how they can be benchmarked against and integrated with more traditional data sources.
During this in-depth webinar, we will discuss:
- How to deploy and execute an effective overall data management strategy
- How to get the most out alternative data and data science programs
- Analysis of key trends in data usage and alternative data demand in 2020
- How the right datasets can guide technology planning and investment
- Who can benefit the most from alternative datasets, and how
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Most Read
Prudential names new head of Hong Kong investments
The life insurer has promoted Fanda Ho to replace Ben Rudd, who recently moved to a new internal role.
Canadian pension funds step up Asia recruitment drive
CPPIB, Omers and OTPP are busy hiring in the region for investment talent in credit, real assets and particularly equities. Omers is also planning to add office space in Singapore.
Weekly roundup of people news, April 9
Swiss Re hires head of China asset management business; BlackRock deregisters its China WFOE; DWS names head of Apac insurance coverage; Amundi appoints first Asia sustainability officer; Manulife IM appoints senior portfolio manager for asset allocation; Morgan Stanley IM hires portfolio manager for A-shares; and more.
Tokyo accelerates reforms to advance status as global financial city
Backed by government action to remove regulatory bottlenecks, the city is moving swiftly to ensure ease of doing business for international firms.
Three 'Ps' that make your sustainable investing the ‘real deal’
Although sustainable funds have seen increasing inflows amid growing environmental awareness and the spotlight on social issues due to Covid-19, the industry still lacks a standard definition of sustainable investing. Nicholette MacDonald-Brown, head of European blend equities at Schroders, explains the firm’s three-pronged approach of people, process and purpose.
Family offices divided over the appeal of Spacs
Special purpose acquisition companies (Spacs) have gained ground as financing vehicles for companies looking to go public. But Asian family offices have yet to make many investments.
Weekly roundup of people news, April 1
China Pacific Insurance appoints new chairwoman, COO; AMP's CEO to leave by third quarter; Robeco announces duo in senior China roles; Axa IM hires head of institutional sales for Asia; GLP names co-president for logistics; BlackRock sells onshore Korea distribution business; Income Partners poaches head of distribution from Vanguard; and more.
Why green infrastructure needs innovative finance to thrive
De-risking and green securitisation will help unlock much-needed institutional capital for sustainable infrastructure projects in Asia, say executives at multilateral development banks.
Manulife IM, Samsung AM ally to target asset owners with alts
The Canadian and Korean asset management operations of two life insurers have agreed to jointly take advantage of rising institutional investor demand for Asian alternative assets.
Temasek targets more impact investing after Leapfrog stake
The Singapore state fund recently bought into impact investing specialist LeapFrog, and is eyeing more investments that combine strong financial returns with a positive social effect.