Strategy

Schroders Makes Malaysia Wealth Push, Names New Hong Kong CEO

Tom Burroughes Group Editor 14 November 2018

Schroders Makes Malaysia Wealth Push, Names New Hong Kong CEO

A busy autumn for Schroders - it has forged a partnership with a Malaysia asset management house and named a new Hong Kong chief executive.

Schroders, the UK-listed wealth management and investment house, is partnering with Asia’s Maybank Asset Management Group to tap into the Malaysian market for high net worth individuals. Separately, Schroders has named a new chief executive for its Hong Kong business as a predecessor moves to Australia.

The autumn of 2018 is proving to be a busy one for Schroders, which a few weeks ago inked a joint venture with UK-listed Lloyds Banking Group to provide wealth management to UK clients.

In the Malaysian deal, Schroders and Maybank AM Group’s partnership means that the firms will “co-develop a range of specialist investment solutions for the growing and increasingly sophisticated wealth market in Malaysia”, a statement from both organisations said yesterday.

“We recognise the growing demand for sophisticated, outcome-oriented global investment solutions, particularly among the high net worth community. We are therefore committed to delivering a range of global investment strategies to cater to their evolving financial needs, through a pioneering tie-up with Schroders,” Badrul Hisyam, chief executive of Maybank AM Group, said.

“By integrating our strength in local wealth management with their global investment capabilities, the resulting synergy will allow us to deepen our foothold in the Malaysian wealth market,” he said. 

To kick off the process, two discretionary portfolios will be launched in November 2018. These are the Global High Dividend Equity Portfolio and the Global High Conviction Portfolio. They will be managed by Maybank AM Malaysia and offered to sophisticated investors, with Schroders Singapore as the investment advisor. More projects are planned for next year, covering various asset classes.

Hong Kong CEO
In a separate announcement yesterday, Schroders named Amy Cho as CEO for its Hong Kong business. Cho succeeds Chris Durack who after three years in Hong Kong is returning to Australia to assume the position of CEO Australia at Schroders. Cho will join Schroders on 3 December.

In addition to the Hong Kong CEO position, Cho also takes on the new role of regional head of intermediary clients at the firm, a sign of how intermediaries are seen as an increasingly important part of the wealth management ecosphere in the region. She work with Showbhik Kalra, regional head of intermediaries and products, and the country heads in the region. Chris Durack, in addition to his new position as Australia chie executive, will continue to oversee the institutional business across the region, as he has done for the last three years.  

Cho, who has over 25 years of industry experience, joins from Pictet where she was managing director and regional head of business development, APAC ex Japan and general manager for Hong Kong and Taiwan. Prior to that, she held senior positions at First State Investments, HSBC Asset Management and Citibank.

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