July’s most read: GIC to hire five associates; Omers to invest C$12bn more into Asia; Aussie super funds seeking co-investments

GIC to hire five executives for infra, private equity and private credit

GIC is looking to fill five associate roles across private equity, private credit and infrastructure, indicating a continued foray into alternative asset classes.

The $488 billion sovereign wealth fund posted the new vacancies last week, and a senior vice president said in a LinkedIn post there were five roles available. Already, the private equity role has been filled, according to the relevant page on GIC’s career website.

The private credit role will focus on investments primarily in the US and Europe, while the infrastructure role will cover the fund's global infrastructure strategy across all sectors, such as utilities, transportation, digital infrastructure, energy and power, and emerging infrastructure, according to the job postings.

GIC did not respond to requests for comment.

Omers to invest up to C$12bn more into Asia by 2025

Top Canadian pension fund The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers) is expecting to add up to C$12 billion ($9.5 billion) in additional investments in Asia by 2025, and intends to supplement its regional investment team by five more people to facilitate the growth.   

Omers currently has 10% of its total C$105 billion assets under management (AUM), or C$10.5 billion, allocated to Asia, with C$3.6 billion invested in equities and fixed income, and the remainder spread across infrastructure, private equity, and real estate.

Ashish Goyal, head of Omers Capital Markets Asia in Singapore, told AsianInvestor that he expected the Asia allocation to increase to 15% by 2025. “That is the strategic intent. If [we identify] more opportunities, we will get there faster. If there are fewer, we will get there slower,” he explained.

Schroders hires head of sustainability strategy in ESG push

Schroders hired Mervyn Tang from Fitch Ratings to join a new team it is building that will focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and research, AsianInvestor revealed.

Tang was Fitch Ratings’ global head of ESG research and sustainable finance, based in Hong Kong. He has held this position since joining the rating agency in March 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile. His appointment was effective July 27.

Schroders hired Tang as its head of Asian sustainability strategy, as part of an effort to build a four-strong team that will staff its new regional Centre of Excellence for Sustainability, based in Singapore. 

The firm declined to comment at first but later confirmed it in an announcement the same week.

Aussie super funds seeking co-investments with real assets managers

Australian superannuation funds are increasingly pursuing co-investment opportunities with managers of real assets, hoping to benefit from lower fees while developing greater in-house expertise.

Consultants say that offering fee-free co-investments is now an important way for managers to attract these mid- to large-sized investors into their funds.

“In infrastructure, the agreement is often: if you invest in our fund, we’ll offer you co-investments that have nil or minimal management and performance fees,” Manish Rastogi, head of infrastructure with Frontier Advisors in Melbourne, told AsianInvestor.

Assets under management in Singapore rises 17% to $3.5 trillion

Assets under management (AUM) in Singapore rose 17% in 2020, driven by “strong inflows into both traditional and alternative investment strategies, as well as valuation gains across major asset classes,” according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

This compares to 2019’s 15.6% growth of S$4 trillion, and 2018’s more modest growth of 5.4%.

The annual report highlighted that the inflows into alternative investment strategies included asset classes such as private equity, real estate, Reits, and venture capital. MAS declined to comment on the breakdown of asset classes or the country breakdown of inflow sources.