Filter by Country:
Subscribe |Click here to Login
Back to 2013 issue

FEATURES (Published Date :3/1/2013)

GREATER CHINA

Watchdogs chew the fat over possible Taiwan RQFII programme
By Hui Ching-hoo
Category :Asia,Taiwan
Taiwan’s fund industry landscape is expected to see significant changes following a meeting of representatives of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the island’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in Taipei on January 29. The aim was to exchange ideas around...

INSURANCE ASSET MANAGEMENT

Ready to be risky
By Paul Mackintosh
Category :Global
Insurance companies loom large in global institutional investment. OECD and IMF figures show they made up 33% of global institutional investment as of 2009, second only to investment funds.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Evolution, not revolution
By David Macfarlane
Category :Asia,Malaysia,Asia-Pacific
People have come to realise that bad corporate governance leads to bad results. Nevertheless, corporate governance is more complex than just finding the right compensation policy or hiring ethical CEOs. The factors that influence corporate governance are manifold.
Time for a change in behaviour
By Lee Kha Loon*
Category :Asia
In October 2012, the OECD Asian Roundtable met in Tokyo and released a report – Reform Priorities in Asia: Taking Corporate Governance to a Higher Level. This roundtable was first held shortly after the Asian financial crisis (AFC) in 1998 and has set the benchmark for regulatory reforms across Asia for the last ten years. The participants are Asian...

REGULATORY UPDATE

We are now reaching the endgame
By Hui Ching-hoo
Category :Asia,Hong Kong,Global
An increasing number of Asian firms are changing their business models and operational processes following the Commodities Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC’s) issuance of a final order and further proposed guidance in response to the concerns of foreign financial institutions and their regulators about the proposed extraterritorial reach of the swaps provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act (DFA), issued in December 2012.

PENSIONS

The future of ORSO
By Jeremy Gadbury*
Category :Hong Kong,Global,U.S.A.,United Kingdom
MPF, the Mandatory Provident Fund system that began in December 2000, may be the savings system most associated with Hong Kong. But ORSO, the original system, is still alive and well.

GLOBAL HIGH YIELD AND EMERGING MARKET DEBT

No let up for emerging markets
By Hui Ching-hoo
Category :Global
Both high yield (HY) and emerging market (EM) credits were deluged with torrential inflows last year thanks to major central banks easing monetary measures and a contraction in credit spread. Despite pundits’ expectations that average yields and total issuances will subside slightly this year, institutional investors still seek to grow allocations to the fixed income asset classes, even in the present low yield environment.

RISK MANAGEMENT

Doing what it says on the tin
Category :Asia,Europe
In recent proposals for better management of non-financial risks in the fund management industry, drawn from research supported by CACEIS as part of a research chair at EDHEC-Risk Institute, Noël Amenc, director of EDHEC-Risk Institute, and Frédéric Ducoulombier, director of EDHEC Risk Institute – Asia, sought to limit the risks which emerged during the 2007-2008 crisis and undermined the quality of the UCITS label. In this article, they explain the reasoning behind their proposals.

CEO INTERVIEW

Permal brings prowess, progressive tools to expanding North Asian client base
By Toby Garrod
Category :China
Permal is something of an anomaly in the asset management industry. In a world that is both increasingly plain vanilla and increasingly volatile, in terms of assets and resources, the fund of alternative funds manager sits on the cutting edge of market practices, backed by a long-standing team of experienced market heavyweights.

ROAD WARRIOR

Knowledge despatched, wanted or not
By Praveen Jagwani*
Category :Global
Cab drivers are fascinating creatures. From their vantage position behind the wheel, they freely observe, analyse and catalogue the human condition. Fear, greed, hope and anguish ride in these cabs every day. Capturing the changing trends in aggregated emotion could be the next big hedge fund idea or a new economic indicator.

MPF UPDATE

MPF schemes rated to build awareness and improve decision-making amongst members
By Francis Chung*
Category :Hong Kong,Global
Hong Kong’s compulsory saving scheme, the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), has grown to over HK$440 billion (US$56.72 billion) in assets held on behalf of 2.6 million employees. These are underpinned by a combination of compulsory contributions and financial market performance. The recent implementation of employee choice arrangements (ECA), enabling members’ portability, is expected to bring the biggest changes to the Hong Kong retirement landscape since the MPF’s beginnings in December 2000.

JAPAN UPDATE

Japanese pensions at a crossroads
By Maya Ando
Category :Asia,Japan
Vast pension reserves sit basically idling in Japan, looking for better investments to provide the stable returns needed to pay for the increasing tally of benefits owed to retirees. Presently the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) holds the largest share of these funds, with 111.93 trillion yen (US$1.19 trillion) as of Dec 31, 2012.

MPF INDICATORS

MPF INDICATORS
Category :Global
MPF INDICATORS

PRIVATE EQUITY PANORAMA

Leaning on the wrong people
Category :Australia,China,Asia-Pacific
Asia Pacific private equity seems to be coming out in a litigious rash. In Australia and New Zealand, units of Japanese beverages giant Asahi Group, Asahi Holdings Australia and Independent Liquor New Zealand, have reportedly brought suits in the Australian Federal Court against leading regional buyout firms Pacific Equity Partners and Unitas Capital over the sale of local brewing asset Independent Liquor, alleging misrepresentation of the earnings of the asset when it was sold in 2011.
Are public exits swinging open in Asia again?
Category :Asia,China,Singapore,Myanmar
In week ended February 22, Temasek Holdings unit Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd launched a real estate investment trust (REIT) – Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust – at the top of its range, raising US$1.3 billion.

PROFILE

Sharing the common philanthropic DNA
By Paul Mackintosh
Category :Asia,Global
Gerald Leong, partner and founder of Point Hope Group, and former head of origination at UBS Capital Southeast Asia, gives his view of the current private equity market from the perspective of his firm, which focuses on control buyouts of mid-sized businesses in Southeast Asia, South Korea, Greater China and selected other opportunities, from offices in Singapore and Seoul.

THE BIG PICTURE

We are all in it together
By V G Kulkarni
Category :Global
It is so tempting to drop a name – a big one – and use a historically famous quote. So here it is: In the long run, we are all dead. – Lord Keynes.

KOREA UPDATE

Costs rising faster than revenues
By Hank Morris
Category :Asia,Korea
As both institutional and retail investors in Korea began to adjust their portfolios at the beginning of 2013, the total assets of public funds under management by the 84 Korean and foreign asset management companies active in the country rose from 317 to 332 trillion won (US$306 billion), a gain of over 15 trillion won, or about US$13.5 billion from December 31 of 2012 to January 31 of this year.

MARKETWATCH

Great rotation debate continues
By David Macfarlane
Category :Global
CIOs and investment experts from leading asset management firms operating throughout the globe give Asia Asset Management their views in regard to where the various markets are headed this year.

SEARCH DIRECTORY

Directory of Manager Appointments & Searches March 2013
Directory of Manager Appointments & Searches March 2013

MARCH 2013 E-MAGAZINE

MARCH 2013 E-MAG
Click to view the electronic version of Asia Asset Management's March 2013 issue.

SPONSORED STATEMENT

Emerging market debt moving into the mainstream
Category :Global
Emerging nations have been increasing their contributions to world growth. It is estimated that the sector will account for more than half of world gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of this year. World GDP growth is forecast to be 2.9% by the end of 2013, up from 2.6% in 2012; of this, developed countries are projected to grow at 1.4% (up modestly from 1.3% in 2012), whereas emerging countries are forecast to grow at 5.5% (up from 4.8% in 2012).
Banque Degroof Luxembourg makes strides in Asia on back of judicious record
Category :Asia,Global
The financial crisis separated market institutions into two groups; the risk-hungry opportunists that got burnt and the judicious conservatives, which comprise the lucky few.
StatPro causing a revolution in the cloud
Category :Asia,Global
StatPro explained: It’s about easier portfolio analytics StatPro has been in the business of portfolio analytics since 1994, but it still feels like a young company with plenty of energy and a real commitment to innovation. We’re proud to say we have over 300 clients across 28 countries.
Fullgoal makes successful transition
Category :Asia,China
Fullgoal Fund Management Chief Executive Officer Dou Yuming, CEO of the Year for China in Asia Asset Management’s Best of the Best Awards, attributes the firm’s success to its people, processes, and philosophy.
Back to 2013 issue
Most Popular
Read Emailed Commented
  1. Aldcroft named CEO for CitiTrust Limited in Asia Pacific
  2. Report shows Asia’s share of global corporate revenues has skyrocketed
  3. Asia’s institutional investors warm up to quant strategies
  4. Video Exclusive - Fullgoal Fund Management - May 2013
  5. Winners 2012
  6. Video Exclusive - April 2013
  7. Video Exclusive - February 2013
  8. HSBC Global Research outlines key themes in RMB internationalisation
  9. About Best of the Best Awards
  10. Video Exclusive - April 2012
  1. Hong Kongers regret low exposure to RMB products, says survey
  2. RobecoSAM and S&P Dow Jones Indices launch DJSI Diversified Family
  3. CFA Institute’s Claritas Investment Certificate wins plaudits from financial services industry
  4. Japan’s asset management industry opening up to outsourcing
  5. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Asia) approved to conduct regulated business in HK
  6. Manulife Asset Management Taiwan appoints Deutsche Bank as fund administrator
  7. Emerging market regulators demand stronger voice in global reforms
  8. AIMA outlines new role for hedge funds in institutional investment
  9. ASrIA lends weight to Natural Capital Declaration
  10. Regional investors ready for The First Global Investor Forum on Climate Change
  1. Regional investors ready for The First Global Investor Forum on Climate Change
  2. Dou Yuming closes curtain on Fullgoal career
  3. Hong Kongers regret low exposure to RMB products, says survey
  4. Singapore’s accredited investors frustrated by dwindling risk opportunities
Poll
outlook for 2013
What is your outlook for 2013?
Poll Results
Good
13 (81%)
Bad
2 (13%)
Ugly
1 (6%)
Search