Asset Owners

Kwap property arm appoints CEO; VFMC names new CEO as Lisa Gray retires; MSIG Singapore promotes Mack Eng as CEO; Monroe Capital opens first Asia office in Seoul, hires head from Aberdeen; Vanguard Australia appoints new MD to relocate from US; HSBC AM expands EM debt team; Vantage FX hires from CGS-CIMB in Singapore; and more.

The $95 billion Korean savings will set up a separately managed account for real estate debt investment early next year in order to shorten decision-making and help it win deals in a crowded market.

The fund's 29.6% returns marked its best ever and exceeded its reference portfolio, which has 80% allocated to equities, by 1.73%.

Its head of infrastructure revealed the insurer’s asset allocation targets at AsianInvestor’s latest Private Assets Investments Week

The enlargement of the Bond Connect scheme, announced on Wednesday (Sep 15), gives Chinese investors another option for allocating capital offshore.

Changing demographics, rising salaries and a generalised change in the wealth landscape is driving the fast pension fund asset growth

Private credit might be less attractive than it was last year as investors rush into the market, but there are sweet spots to be found.

EISS Super CEO resigns after failing performance test; China to launch wealth management pilots in four cities; Hong Kong's MPF grows 26% y-o-y; India's NIIF in talks to acquire and develop green energy assets; Korea Post to hire financial services firm; GIC, Baring Private Equity, IMM Private Equity to exit from Kyobo Life Insurance; Khazana to sell stake in Cenviro; EPF trims stake in oil palm planter; and more

The hiring spree for 22 newly created positions is the largest by the Korean sovereign wealth fund since 2015. The new program includes 15 investment management openings.

The group will look for private debt opportunities in Asia but CIO Alvin Ying noted the maturity journey of the market could take a while.

Investors are not deterred by the thinning spread between logistics and office yields, as prices continue to climb in Australia.

MAS names sustainability head; Malaysia’s EPF appoints COO and CFO; GIC PE head for SEA leaves; State Super hires new exec; Hesta appoints chief growth officer, chief Debby Blakey appointed to corporate governance board; ex-BlackRock exec joins IQ-EQ in Singapore; HSBC AM builds direct real estate team; ex-Vanguard head of distribution joins LGIM; Sanne names Singapore head; and more

Generally, however, Asian pension funds’ allocations to alternative assets demonstrated only a modest increase of 0.6% from 2019 to 2020.

The ease of direct investments into property firms and the availability of niche sectors in the US have drawn asset owners such as Australia’s Aware Super and Korea’s Poba.

The region's largest investors are increasingly looking at impact investing. But to do so effectively, they need to effectively measure how successful these approaches are proving.

The world’s third-largest pension fund announced a shake-up in how it manages overseas fixed income and private holdings to cut expenses and improve execution.

Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) and the National Pension Service (NPS) plan to enhance overseas voting rights and mandatory ESG filings for overseas companies.

Stuck between low yields and the need to include fixed income in their portfolios, institutional investors like Cbus are getting creative with their approach to income investing.

China's sovereign wealth fund's 2020 returns may have declined, but the fund remains upbeat about US equities, external managers and the prospects for the Greater Bay Area

The country’s issuance of sustainable debt should flourish, but it needs to improve its rules, standards and research.