Asia's top fund houses by asset class, explained part 2

AsianInvestor is proud to present the second group of asset class award winners for the Asset Management Awards 2026.

Today we unveil the remaining recipients across our asset class categories, as determined by our editorial team and distinguished judging panel.

As in previous years, we received a strong volume of submissions across the awards programme. Entries were reviewed based on performance outcomes and qualitative factors, with judges assessing each firm within the context of its respective strategy and market environment.

The breadth of submissions reflected the continued depth and competitiveness of Asia’s asset management industry. Across categories, judges noted the importance of consistency, disciplined investment processes and clear articulation of strategy.

We extend our congratulations to all winners announced across both instalments of this year’s awards. Their recognition underscores the ongoing development of the region’s asset management landscape.

Tomorrow, we will publish the first part of our explainers on Asia's top fund houses by market. 

JAPAN EQUITY (MID/SMALL-CAP): Amova Asset Management

Amova Asset Management’s Japan Cash Rich Company Strategy distinguished itself through a unique focus on cash-rich Japanese businesses with strong liquid reserves and the potential to unlock shareholder value.

Rather than simply targeting low-valuation companies, the strategy identified firms with clear catalysts for change – such as improved capital allocation, dividend increases, share buybacks, M&A activity, or potential takeovers – helping avoid traditional value traps. The investment universe was unconstrained by market capitalisation or sector, allowing the team to capture opportunities across the market, particularly among under-researched small- and mid-cap companies.

A key differentiator was the strategy’s rigorous research framework, combining quantitative screening – using metrics such as Cash Reserve Ratio, EV/EBITDA and P/E – with deep qualitative analysis and direct engagement with company management. This approach evaluated not only balance-sheet strength but also the likelihood that management will deploy excess cash to drive higher return on equity and shareholder returns.

The portfolio maintained a deliberate tilt toward smaller, cash-rich companies and lower financial leverage, creating a distinctive factor profile within Japanese equities.

Over the past year, the strategy demonstrated resilience during market volatility, declining less than the broader market during selloffs and outperforming during the subsequent recovery. Strategic holdings acquired through tender offers at significant premiums further enhanced returns, validating the strategy’s catalyst-driven approach.

INDIAN EQUITY (LARGE-CAP): ICICI Prudential AMC

The ICICI Prudential Large Cap Fund (formerly ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund, renamed in June 2025) stood out as a resilient large-cap strategy focused on long-term wealth creation through India’s strongest and most established companies.

Managed by Anish Tawakley and Vaibhav Dusad, the fund maintained a disciplined allocation of at least 80% to large-cap equities, prioritising scale, liquidity and balance-sheet strength.

During the volatile award period, the fund demonstrated strong downside protection. It returned -2.22% versus the benchmark Nifty 100 TRI’s -4.81%, delivering 2.59 percentage points of alpha in a challenging market.

Risk-adjusted performance further differentiated the fund, with a Sharpe ratio of 0.92 versus a category average of 0.60 and lower volatility. Tactical sector rotation – such as increased exposure to energy and autos, reduced IT allocation and stable banking holdings – combined with selective hedging and active liquidity management helped navigate macro shocks.

Investor conviction remained strong despite short-term volatility. AUM grew over 15%, highlighting sustained trust in the strategy.

US EQUITY (MID/SMALL-CAP): Virtus Investment Partners

The Virtus / Silvant Focused Large Cap Growth Strategy was notable for its distinctive philosophy that treats growth as a condition rather than a category – therefore enabling the team to identify opportunities across the broader US. equity universe rather than confining investments to traditional growth indices.

Managed by Atlanta-based Silvant Capital Management, an affiliate of Virtus Investment Partners, the strategy applied a disciplined, research-driven process focused on companies with strong competitive advantages, superior profitability, robust free cash flow and improving return on invested capital.

The strategy constructed a concentrated portfolio of high-conviction US large-cap companies with durable growth prospects and exposure to powerful secular trends and disruptive innovation. Its emphasis on identifying “true game changers” allowed the portfolio to capture transformative companies shaping the future of industries.

Performance and investor confidence were strong. During the award period, AUM increased by just under 50%, to $2.1 billion, driven primarily by institutional clients such as pension funds, government organisations and endowments. The strategy delivered a Sharpe ratio of 1.12 over one year.

Stock selection in innovative leaders further highlighted the team’s ability to identify companies benefiting from strong demand, structural growth trends and improving fundamentals, reinforcing the strategy’s reputation for disciplined, high-conviction growth investing.

ABSOLUTE RETURNS: Bridgewater Associates

China Total Return (CTR) – Bridgewater Associates’ flagship China-focused strategy – earned recognition from judges by delivering consistent, resilient performance in one of the world’s most volatile investment environments.

As an active, multi-asset macro approach, it achieved its goal of providing investors with targeted exposure to China’s rapidly evolving markets, while avoiding the large drawdowns typically associated with growth-sensitive China investments.

Developed in collaboration with leading global asset owners, CTR applies Bridgewater’s systematic, fundamentally driven investment framework to a diversified universe of liquid Chinese assets.

The strategy combines two key innovations — firstly, it constructs a long-term strategic asset mix that balances risk across assets which perform differently in varying growth and inflation environments—an approach pioneered in Bridgewater’s All Weather framework, first introduced globally in 1996 and adapted to China in 2018. This structure enables the portfolio to generate equity-like returns with fewer, shorter and shallower drawdowns.

Secondly, CTR incorporates a systematic alpha engine that tactically adjusts exposures to Chinese markets, enhancing returns while maintaining consistency across market cycles.

This disciplined diversification proved particularly effective during the awards period as equities, bonds and commodities rotated leadership amid shifting policy signals and external pressures. The strategy captured upside during policy-driven rallies while maintaining resilience during market downturns.

PRIVATE DEBT: Barings

Barings established itself as a top-tier global private credit solutions provider by combining scale, disciplined underwriting and innovation across the capital structure.

Leveraging more than $200 billion of cross-platform capital and a global team of over 260 investment professionals, the firm delivered integrated financing solutions spanning direct lending, private placements, infrastructure debt, asset-based finance and capital solutions.

Its global origination network partnered with more than 245 private equity sponsors in FY2024 alone, underscoring the breadth of its sourcing capabilities.

At the core of this success was Barings’ direct lending platform. Operating as a single, unified global platform across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, the strategy focused on sponsor-backed companies in the core middle market ($15 million to $100 million EBITDA), where Barings can often act as sole, lead or co-lead lender, allowing it to drive stronger covenant protections and capital preservation.

Performance and discipline remained strong despite challenging market conditions. Over the past year, the team deployed $10.2 billion across more than 180 transactions while maintaining strict underwriting standards.

This framework delivered exceptional credit outcomes, with loss rates of just 3 basis points in North America and Europe and zero in developed Asia Pacific.

PRIVATE EQUITY: EQT Partners

EQT Partners’ European and pan-Asian private capital franchises delivered superior results during the award period – capitalising on scale, disciplined sector expertise and a repeatable value-creation model to generate consistent investor outcomes.

Group AUM expanded from approximately $277 billion in December 2024 to around $297 billion by June 2025, driven by successful fundraising, portfolio value creation and increased fee-generating assets.

Performance across vintages remained top quartile. EQT’s private equity series has delivered around 20% net IRR since inception and a 2.6x realized gross MOIC, while the Asia franchise (BPEA) achieved industry-leading realised returns of 2.9x gross MOIC and 22% gross IRR, supported by strong distributions and more than $20 billion of liquidity over the past 24 months.

EQT’s differentiated “industrialised ownership” model – combining sector-led sourcing, operational value creation and a global network of 600-plus industrial advisors – drove measurable portfolio improvements through sales growth, margin expansion and strategic repositioning.

Robust governance, disciplined exit execution and extensive co-investment opportunities further strengthened client outcomes. Together with EQT’s deep local presence across Europe, North America and Asia, these capabilities enabled resilient performance, strong fundraising momentum and significant capital returns to investors.

ACTIVE ETF (LARGE-CAP): JP Morgan Asset Management

JP Morgan Asset Management’s pioneering Equity Premium Income (EPI) ETF strategy has been a stand-out ever since it launched in 2020 – with the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) leading global active ETF inflows during the award period.

Overall, the firm’s ETF platform continued to set the benchmark, delivering innovative solutions for today’s evolving investor needs.

In particular, the JEPQ strategy delivered diversified equity exposure to high-growth technology companies while generating consistent income through dividends and options premiums. Its disciplined approach – selling index call options on a defensive equity portfolio – helped to provide downside resilience while capturing meaningful market upside.

As a result, JEPQ has rewritten the rules for income investors, unlocking reliable income and access to the dynamic technology sector. The success of the EPI suite expanded its client base and spurred competitors to follow suit, as demand for income-generating, volatility-friendly strategies surges.

Supported by the firm’s deep research resources, data-driven process and a highly experienced portfolio team led by Hamilton Reiner, the EPI platform has become the dominant force in the active covered-call ETF segment, accounting for roughly 70% of flows in 2025 and redefining income-oriented equity investing.

ACTIVE ETF (MID/SMALL-CAP): Mirae Asset Global Investments

Mirae Asset Global Investments’ Global X HSCEI Covered Call Active ETF delivered outstanding results during the award period, demonstrating how innovative ETF structures can provide both income and resilience in volatile markets.

Built on an actively managed covered call strategy linked to the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI), the fund successfully combined equity exposure to leading Chinese companies with systematic options overlays to generate reliable income while managing downside risk.

A defining innovation of the strategy was its dynamic options management. Portfolio managers actively adjusted call option strike prices and expirations based on liquidity, premiums and volatility trends, while tactically using HSCEI futures and ETFs to maintain index alignment and portfolio flexibility. This disciplined approach delivered a strong Sharpe Ratio of 1.13, highlighting superior risk-adjusted performance during a period marked by geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.

The ETF also achieved remarkable commercial success. AUM surged by over 3,000%, to nearly $931 million.

By democratising sophisticated covered call strategies within a transparent ETF structure, delivering consistent monthly income and achieving record-breaking asset growth, this has set a new benchmark for income-focused active ETFs in Hong Kong.

REIT: Virtus Investment Partners

The Virtus / Duff & Phelps Global Real Estate Securities Strategy won plaudits as a differentiated and resilient global REIT strategy, underpinned by the real asset expertise of Duff & Phelps.

Backed by $3 billion in strategy assets within a $12.8 billion real assets platform, the strategy combined top-down macroeconomic insights with rigorous bottom-up fundamental analysis to identify mispriced securities capable of delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns.

A key element was the experienced and stable investment team, with senior portfolio managers working together for more than 20 years across multiple market cycles – providing continuity, institutional knowledge and disciplined decision-making. The strategy focused on high-quality real estate owner-operators, targeting companies with durable fundamentals and the potential for long-term value creation.

Performance consistency was also a defining achievement. The strategy has outperformed the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed (Net) benchmark in 100% of rolling three-year periods since inception, demonstrating persistent alpha generation. During the award period, it also navigated volatile markets effectively, delivering benchmark outperformance in the second and third quarters of 2025, despite global trade uncertainty and shifting interest rate expectations.

Active country and security selection were key drivers of results. Overweight positions in Japan and Spain contributed strongly to performance.

MULTI-ASSET STRATEGY: UBS

The UBS China Allocation Opportunity (CAO) was notable as a distinctive, actively managed multi-asset strategy designed to navigate the complexity and rapid evolution of China’s capital markets.

During the award period, the strategy delivered over 18% absolute returns with low volatility of just under 11%, producing a Sharpe ratio of 1.26 – representing one of the strongest risk-adjusted performances in its peer group. Notably, CAO captured a significant portion of the MSCI China All Shares Index’s 25.2% upside while operating at roughly half the volatility, demonstrating exceptional downside control and disciplined portfolio construction.

CAO stood out for its “all-weather” multi-asset framework, combining top-down macro and thematic allocation with bottom-up security selection from UBS’ specialist teams. The strategy’s unconstrained and innovative toolkit – including customised total return swaps to access thematic exposures – enabled agile positioning across emerging opportunities such as AI, semiconductors and high-dividend sectors.

Proactive portfolio management further strengthened results, with tactical adjustments ahead of major geopolitical events and dynamic exposure shifts across equities, credit, currencies and commodities.

By blending innovation, thematic insight and rigorous risk management, CAO provided investors with a flexible, one-stop solution to capture China’s long-term growth while smoothing volatility.

MULTI-ASSET STRATEGY: Bridgewater Associates (Highly commended)

Bridgewater’s showcased its multi-asset capabilities through its China Total Return (CTR) strategy – developed with leading global asset owners seeking exposure to China’s growth without the large volatility typical of concentrated strategies.

Drawing on the firm’s 50 years of global macro research, CTR applies its pioneering All Weather framework – first introduced globally in 1996 and adapted for China in 2018 – to balance risk across equities, bonds and commodities.

The fully systematic strategy combines a diversified strategic asset mix with alpha-driven market timing, aiming to deliver equity-like returns with fewer, shorter drawdowns. Already among the largest and best-performing private fund strategies in China, CTR offers resilient, institutional-grade exposure to Chinese markets.

MONEY MARKET FUND: Fullerton Fund Management

Fullerton Fund Management’s SGD Cash Fund stood out as one of Singapore’s most established and trusted treasury management solutions. The strategy cemented itself as a preferred liquidity vehicle for both institutional and retail investors, recognised for its consistent performance, strong liquidity profile and disciplined risk management.

During the award period, the fund delivered 2.64% returns versus its benchmark’s 0.56%, demonstrating its ability to generate excess returns even in volatile and rapidly shifting macro environments. The team’s proactive portfolio management made the difference – anticipating changes in global interest rate cycles, the fund strategically extended its weighted-average maturity (WAM) from around 20 days in early 2023 to 120 days by September 2025, capturing higher yields before rates began to decline.

The strategy also demonstrated agility amid complex conditions including divergent global monetary policies, trade tensions, yield curve inversions and the US banking crisis. Through disciplined yield curve positioning, selective exposure to short-dated bills and enhanced counterparty diversification, the team preserved liquidity while enhancing returns.

Ultimately, the fund’s scale, proactive strategy and resilient performance underlined why it stands out as an award-winning treasury management solution.

MONEY MARKET FUND: China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Asset Management

The ICBC CICC USD Money Market ETF, managed by China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Asset Management (CICC HKAM), has now become a pioneering and highly successful innovation in the region’s cash management landscape.

It was the first actively managed money market ETF listed in Hong Kong when it launched in mid-2019, and remains a SFC-authorised Hong Kong-domiciled public money market fund, setting a new benchmark for liquidity solutions in the market.

The fund achieved a 4.56% net return (4.81% gross) for the listed share class during the award period, reflecting exceptional capital preservation and risk management. The strategy has consistently outperformed the 1-Month SOFR, exceeding it by 25 basis points on average over the past year and 33 basis points since inception, demonstrating strong risk-adjusted returns.

Investor confidence drove impressive asset growth, with AUM surging 112% year-on-year to $1.2 billion, supported by strong institutional demand and the launch of a low-cost institutional share class with just a 5-basis point management fee.

The fund combined high-quality diversified money market investments, strong liquidity with T+0 settlement and daily access, and robust risk controls supported by CICC’s proprietary CHAMPs portfolio management system.

DIGITAL ASSET FUND: Fore Elite Capital Management

The Elite SPC-Fore Elite Flagship Fund SP delivered strong results during the award period, combining strong absolute returns, disciplined portfolio management and significant institutional investor support. Designed as an absolute-return strategy unconstrained by traditional benchmarks, the fund significantly outperformed the Bloomberg Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Index, demonstrating the effectiveness of its differentiated investment approach in the rapidly evolving digital asset market.

Performance was accompanied by AUM increasing by 34% to reach approximately $195 million. The strategy’s success attracted substantial inflows from a global institutional investor base, with no redemptions recorded, highlighting strong investor conviction.

The fund’s track record underscored its consistency – over 20% return during the award period.

Behind this performance was a rigorous and adaptive investment process, combining deep macro and sector research, proprietary data analysis and dynamic risk management frameworks. Active portfolio optimisation and disciplined long-term positioning enabled the team to convert market volatility into opportunity while preserving capital.

Together, these achievements highlighted the fund’s innovation, strong institutional adoption and sustained performance.