Strategy
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.