The Singapore Exchange has boosted its Asian network with the appointment of Tng Kwee Lian as head of fixed income.

Tng steps in from United Overseas Bank's asset management unit, where she was head of Asian fixed income.

In a statement, the exchange said that Tng's addition to the team will help drive its bond initiatives, with a particular focus on attracting more high net worth individuals into the asset class. Bonds and other alternative assets have been getting a lot of attention from investors in the wake of the global financial crisis as they shy away from investments linked with interest rates. The exchange currently lists 1,229 bonds.

SGX expects to offer an on-exchange secondary market for individual and institutional investors to trade Singapore Government Securities by the first quarter of next year. SGX's central depository has been a custodian of individual investors' SGS holdings since April this year.