UK-based Standard Chartered Bank has set up its first variable capital company or VCC in Singapore.
According to the bank, the Standard Chartered Funds VCC will allow it to launch funds that will give clients exclusive access to “hard-to-access custom-curated investment strategies”.
“Funds launched under the VCC will advocate a long-term strategic asset allocation as part of a client’s foundation portfolio,” Standard Chartered says in a statement on June 11.
Singapore introduced the VCC in 2020 to bolster the city state’s status as a regional fund distribution hub.
The structure gives fund managers greater flexibility on share issuance or redemptions and dividend payments. Asset managers are also able to incorporate multiple funds into a single VCC, unlike in a regular structure where each fund has to be registered into one account.
The Standard Chartered Funds VCC is chaired by Patrick Lee, the bank’s chief executive for Singapore and Southeast Asia.
According to Lee, Singapore is a “critically important market for Standard Chartered” and the VCC “underscores our commitment to build on the country’s position as a leading regional and global wealth hub”.
He says the VCC will enable the bank “to issue and manage innovative and relevant fund solutions for our global affluent clients in key markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, right here from Singapore”.
