Weekly Digest: ADIA inks India retail deal; Kyobo Life, AXA IM expand partnership

The following briefs are curated from press releases and third-party media sources.

TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has announced a $597 million investment in Reliance Retail, making the Indian retail chain worth $100 billion.

This follows investments from KKR and Qatar Investment Authority totaling $1.7 billion. ADIA's investment will give them a 0.59% stake in Reliance Retail.

Reliance Industries, owned by Mukesh Ambani, is the parent company of Reliance Retail Ventures. The investment from ADIA comes as Reliance set an internal target to raise $3.5 billion.

Reliance Industries has diversified from its reliance on oil and has expanded into telecom and on-demand video streaming, among other sectors. The company's retail business is led by Isha Ambani, Mukesh Ambani's daughter.

Source: Reuters

Kyobo Life and France’s AXA Investment Managers have extended their strategic partnership with their W45 trillion ($33.3 billion) joint venture firm managing both some of the Korean insurer’s and third-party assets.

The two companies established a strategic partnership in 2008. Under the name Kyobo AXA Investment Managers, the joint venture firm offers investment solutions across equity, index investment, fixed income, global strategies, liability-driven investments and alternative investments.

While the joint venture firm’s assets are primarily sourced from third-party Korean institutional and retail investors, it also manages some of Kyobo Life’s assets. The joint venture is amongst the top 10 actors in the Korean asset management industry, according to the announcement on October 3.

Source: AXA IM

OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS

CHINA

HSBC Bank (China) Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings (HSBC), has agreed to acquire Citi’s retail wealth management portfolio in mainland China. The portfolio comprises $3.6bn in assets and deposits as of August 2023, and the associated wealth customers across 11 major cities.

Upon completion, the acquired business will be integrated into HSBC Bank China’s wealth and personal banking operations. HSBC plans to extend offers to in-scope employees supporting Citi's local consumer wealth business in China.

Source: HSBC

HONG KONG

Hong Kong’s government is pushing for quicker action on a proposal to keep financial markets open during typhoons, instructing a task force to submit a workable plan within weeks, four people familiar with the matter said.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan’s office recently set the timeline for the group — made up of officials from the stock exchange, regulators and local financial institutions — after a perceived lack of progress in deliberations over the past few months, the people said, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. A government spokesperson declined to comment.

The issue has gained added urgency after a typhoon and rainstorm caused the markets to shut for two consecutive Fridays last month, the people said.

Source: Bloomberg      

INDIA

India's quasi-sovereign wealth fund, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) launched on October 4 a $600-million fund to invest in sustainability projects.

JBIC will contribute 51% of that figure, and India the rest, the Indian government said in a statement.

The India-Japan Fund will target investment in sustainable projects in areas such as renewable energy, e-mobility and waste management, the NIIF, launched in 2015 as India's first state-backed fund, said in a statement.

Source: NIIF

JAPAN

Nippon Life has announced that an additional investment in Resolution Life of $742 million has been completed, pending of regulatory approvals. The investment means that Resolution Life and the investment limited partnership have become an equity-method affiliate of Nippon Life.

Since 2019, Nippon Life has invested in the investment limited partnership which invests in Resolution Life, a global insurance group focusing on the acquisition and management of portfolios of life insurance policies. With this additional investment, the aggregate cumulative total investment has become $1.39 billion.

Nippon Life’s investment in Resolution Life will be made through an investment limited partnership, Blackstone ISG Investment Partners, newly established between Resolution Life and Blackstone.

Source: Nippon Life

KOREA

Korea Post has chosen Mirae Asset Global Investments and Korea Investment Management Corporation for a W400 billion ($300 million) overseas hedge fund mandate for its insurance unit.

The winning bidders were announced on October 4 after the request for proposals (RFPs) was launched on August 7.

Source: Korea Post

Also read: Korea Post hunts for managers across 11 mandates

MALAYSIA

Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Group (CDP), an Italian development bank, have signed a four-year agreement to identify investment opportunities and promote investments between the two countries.

In an official statement on October 5, Khazanah announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with CDP.

The collaboration intends to facilitate opportunities for Italian enterprises interested in investing in Malaysia, as well as Malaysian companies looking to invest in Italy. The partnership aims to strengthen the economic resilience and growth of both nations.

As of the end of December, Khazanah's net realizable asset value stood at $25.96 billion (122.5 billion ringgit).

Source: Khazanah Nasional

MIDDLE EAST

Kuwait Investment Authority is buying a stake in SeaCube Container Leasing from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, a decade after the Canadian pension fund took the Bermuda-based container company private.

The sovereign wealth fund is buying the SeaCube stake via its direct investment arm Wren House. Details of the deal, including the stake size and price for it, were not disclosed in the statement released October 6.

Source: Wren House

TAIWAN

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has chosen eight foreign asset managers, including Allianz Global Investors, JP Morgan Asset Management, Nomura Asset Management and Goldman Sachs, as the latest recipients of a scheme that grants them special treatment aimed at encouraging long-term commitment to the domestic asset management industry.

The others are AllianceBernstein, Invesco, Franklin Templeton, and Schroder Investment Management.

The FSC identified the local units of the eight firms as winners of its deep cultivation programme. Privileges under the scheme include being able to seek approval for more fund products at one go from the FSC and introducing new fund types.

Source: Financial Supervisory Commission

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