Chaired by Standard Life chairman Gerry Grimstone, the board will support businesses such as Standard Life Investments and Asia and Emerging Markets – as well as contributing to its joint ventures HDFC Life and HDFC Asset Management in India and Heng An Standard Life in China.

The UK-listed firm’s presence in the region has grown with the opening of a Singapore office in 2012, a Dubai office in 2013 and most recently the increased scale of operation of Standard Life Investments in Hong Kong.

The group – including its share of joint venture assets – manages £7.2 billion of assets across the region as at the end of September this year.

“The establishment of the Asia advisory board underlines the importance of the region in developing Standard Life’s global reach,” Grimstone said in a statement.

Board members include David Nish, chief executive, Standard Life; Keith Skeoch, CEO, Standard Life Investments; Sandy Begbie, group operations officer, Standard Life; Colin Clark, director of global client group, Standard Life Investments and Seiichi Fukuyama, chairman of Standard Life Investments in Asia.

 External embers are Gaby Abdelnour, based in Hong Kong and currently an advisor to Bain Capital Asia and former chairman and chief executive Asia and Pacific, JP Morgan; Amanda Lu, based between Beijing and Hong Kong is a board director of China National Building Material Corporation, and a former managing director and vice chairman Greater China, Deutsche Bank; Deepakh Parekh, chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation is based in Mumbai. He is Chairman of HDFC Life and HDFC Asset Management, and a non-executive director of DP World Limited and Vedanta Resources; and Peter Young, who is based in Sydney and chairman of Barclays Australia and New Zealand, and former chairman of investment banking, ABN AMRO Group (Australia and New Zealand).