Amanda Lee

Cost pressures and competition are driving consolidation and the pursuit of scale in the asset management sector, AIA's CIO Mark Konyn says.

Institutional investors in Japan are increasingly betting on European real estate to diversify as they seek to gain more exposure to alternative assets, fund managers said.

Mark Konyn, CIO of AIA, Asia’s largest insurer, sees early signs of stabilisation in China but remains cautious amid “unexpected” US policy changes.

As private market investments gain popularity among family offices in Asia, forging deals with other peers is increasingly favoured over outsourcing to fund managers, according to Iu-Jin Ong, co-founder of the single-family office Augventive in Hong Kong.

Central Huijin Investment, an arm of China's sovereign wealth fund, is set to take control of three major bad debt managers, as Beijing tackles growing risks in the state-dominated financial system.

South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) is the latest institutional investor in Asia to adopt technology to manage their investment amid growing demand for such service in the region.

While the US economy and US equities outperformed last year, institutional investors could be turning to Asia as they become more optimistic over the outlook for the region, according to analysts.

While asset owners have turned to illiquid assets like private credit in pursuit of higher yields, uncertainties around US interest rate trajectory raise questions about expected returns.

Korean pension funds must accelerate overseas investments, particularly in alternative assets, to counter demographic pressures and ensure sustainable returns, says former POBA chief investment officer Jang Dong-hun.

After several years of lackluster returns, the Asian high yield market outperformed its European and US counterparts in 2024. This year, fixed income investors are likely to focus on issuers that can benefit from interest rate cuts in the US and changes in trade policy from President Donald Trump’s administration.

Asian insurers are going to increase allocations in private credit this year. They are also looking to diversify into different markets to reduce concentration risk.

The number of single family offices in Singapore is expected to rise after growing 21 per cent last year amid high cost and a tightening of its anti-money-laundering regime.