Manulife AM sets out Korea ambitions

Manulife Asset Management confirms it is targeting yield-starved institutional investors in Korea after obtaining a cross-border investment advisory licence in the country. The firm, which had $17.4 billion in AUM sourced from Asia as at end-2011 by AsianInvestor numbers, has hired Peter Kim from Lapis Global as its new head of institutional sales for Korea. He joined in July based in Hong Kong, although Manulife has no plans to set up a Korean office. Its retail distribution in…