Asset Owners

The pandemic looks may have led to greater use of remote capital-raising but might it also encourage investors to establish more overseas offices?

Asset owners could evolve their usage of index funds and ETFs by turning to more environmental, social and governance plus fixed-income vehicles, say experts.

The national security law will tarnish the territory's financial credentials, but financial firms keen to expand in China are expected to maintain their presence in Hong Kong.

Investors in the region are looking to buy more logistics assets despite rising valuations, as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to push more people to buy goods via e-commerce.

Australia's superannuation funds earmark $20b for infrastructure projects; China Investment Corporation invests in US loans and healthcare and IT stocks; Saudi's Public Investment Fund hunts Covid-19 bargains; Sony buys out financial unit; Korea's NPS to shift five percentage points of its portfolio from debt to equity; Fubon Life invests $200 million across three private equity funds and more.

Regional asset owners have started jumping into newly issued and highly rated US corporate bonds as they look to take advantage of wider spreads, say fund experts.

New, stricter rules being introduced for foreign listings in the US are just the latest in a series of policy measures being directed specifically at China.

AIA's Mark Konyn and others said asset owners have been slow to embrace environmental, social and governance measures, but the Covid-19 crisis could change that.

The looming regulation on the classification of debt may prove unfavourable for distressed assets, but the Korean insurer remains unfazed.

ETFs could gain traction among institutional investors seeking flexibility to take quick tactical positions. But the instruments face potential new regulations in Hong Kong.

With depressed domestic bond yields, Japan insurers have little choice but to allocate more into alternatives and risk assets in order to meet their insurance policy needs.

Asset owners across Asia Pacific look set to slowly raise the amount of passive investments in their overall portfolios, as they continue to absorb new flows of assets.

The difficult market conditions that the Covid-19 pandemic has created could accelerate an existing trend among asset owners: using passive funds to invest in mainstream assets.

Washington's growing opposition to US investment into Chinese assets is affecting asset owners and has wider implications too, note market experts.

Australian and Canadian pension funds suspend India deals; Insurers well capitalised for Covid-19 hit; Australia's CBA to sell 55% of Colonial First state to KKR; Chinese insurer solvency rates set to fall; Japan Post Bank seeks offshore CLOs; GIC in lawsuit over pullout from US travel group purchase; Taiwan's BLF postpones ESG bond mandate and more.

Travel lockdowns have severely impacted the investors' ability to keep adding to their historical interest, especially in overseas alternative assets.

Asia Pacific investors plan to allocate more to Chinese bonds over time, but emerging markets look set for a rocky 2020 in light of the pandemic and renewed US-China squabbling.

Larger asset owners' caution early this year helped shield them from market drops, says a new survey. Sovereign wealth funds were largely spared too, but this could change.

Moody’s and Fitch Ratings say that emerging market defaults are increasingly likely to hit record highs, with Asia-Pacific corporates looking particularly vulnerable.

China has scrapped the quota of its two leading inbound investment programmes, but the move appears unlikely to give its onshore capital markets a shot in the arm.