Asset Owners

As central banks provide further artificial support for listed assets, some asset owners have indicated that they may increase their exposure to unlisted assets.

Businesses that can call upon capital and expertise from private equity owners are seen as better able to weather the huge economic impact of the coronavirus lockdown.

The pandemic has caused asset mispricing, posing both risks and opportunities, but seems unlikely to benefit active management. Meanwhile, liquidity is the top concern for investors in Asia.

GPIF suffers largest quarterly loss; Manulife makes first China industrial investment; NPS raises alternatives allocation; KIC eyes huge growth, partners with asset manager for alts fund; EPF to invest more overseas; pension funds launch sustainable investment data platform; Google and Temasek discuss investing up to $1b in Indonesian e-commerce firm, and more.

Insurance firms in Asia and elsewhere have moved to take advantage of pandemic-driven spread widening on both high yield and investment grade debt.

Norges Bank Investment Management has strong convictions on manager selection – and on Asia. In the first of a two-part series, AsianInvestor speaks to head of external strategies Erik Hilde.

While the fund suffered negative growth over the 11 months of the most recent financial year, it will keep using its passive reference portfolio to benchmark its active investments.

For the 20th anniversary edition of AsianInvestor magazine, we took a look at some of the statistics that reflect just how much the region's financial markets and its investors have grown.

Life insurance firms in the country look set to allocate more assets into local fixed-income rather than venture overseas, even as more foreign players buy local players.

The only cross-border flows into Hong Kong commercial property this year have come from China, while local investors have been buying more overseas real estate, amid the recent turmoil.

The national security law looks set to forever change how the Asian financial centre functions, and not in a good way. Candour is set to diminish, and social tensions may rise.

The Hong Kong-based insurer has hired from rival Generali to fill the newly created role, having rapidly expanded its investment portfolio with several recent acquisitions.

Insurers across the region will see premiums grow by €1.28 trillion, over half coming from China, said a new report by Allianz.

Investors in Australia increasingly want companies to formulate better sustainability strategies for the recovery phase of the Covid-19 crisis, but data limitations remain a concern.

Cbus and Media Super discuss tie-up; China's CIC puts most global large-cap equities into passive strategies; Singapore's GIC buys 1.5% stake in ICICI Prudential Life; Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment plans more Asia investing; GIC and five investors to buy Abu Dhabi gas pipeline; Canada's Manulife the top bidder for Aviva's Vietnam business, and more.

The two asset owners are launching what should be the largest closed-end fund in Asia for a diversified portfolio of premium real estate, and are eyeing several assets.

Consultancy bfinance says emerging market focused investors should consider several strategies for China to avoid adding too much risk.

Insurers from the country face increasing risks in the local equity market, but they may have to take them with fixed income returns set to diminish further due to a lower interest rate.

The state pension fund aims to invite bids for the two mandates by the end of the year to raise its alt exposure and replace underperforming managers, AsianInvestor can reveal.

The impacts of the pandemic have been more significant for some pension funds than others, prompting renewed talk of mergers between smaller funds.