Weekly Digest: GPIF invests via gender diversity index; MAS denies directive on wealth inflow origins

TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has denied the claims made by an April 14 story in Financial Times, and said it has not issued any directive to banks – tacit or otherwise – to avoid discussing the origins of wealth inflows in Singapore.

The official statement came from the Private Banking Industry Group, which is co-chaired by MAS and UBS.

“At its most recent meeting on 20 February 2023, the PBIG noted that while public commentary tended to focus on fund flows from China into Singapore, the sources of overall inflows into Singapore in fact remain diversified.  The increased fund flows into Singapore were from high net-worth individuals from different markets,” the statement said.

The meeting agreed that, in the face of increased fund flows into Singapore, it was important to maintain robust risk management controls to safeguard against money laundering and terrorism financing risks.and bonds falling close to 20%.

Source: MAS

The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is allocating ¥500 billion ($3.77 billion) to an index of Japanese companies that do better on gender diversity as Japan looks to bolster its low ranking for diverse workplaces.

GPIF will passively invest in a new Japan-focused gender diversity index, the firm said in a statement on April 14. The funds will be withdrawn from existing ESG indexes and track the Morningstar Japan ex-REIT Gender Diversity Tilt Index.

There are 930 listed companies in the index.

Source: GPIF

OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS

AUSTRALIA

Rest Super fund has signed a mandate with Palisade Impact Fund, which focuses on assets that target and contribute to practical solutions to social disadvantage and climate change by investing in next generation infrastructure and businesses.

The investment into Palisade Impact is aligned with Rest’s target to achieve a 1% allocation to impact investments by 2026 and is the super fund’s first step towards that ambition.

The development also signals the fund's plans to keep growing its allocation.

The Palisade Impact Fund supports the development and expansion of assets across three key streams: organic waste to energy conversion, resource efficiency, as well as digital connectivity and equity.

Source: Financial Standard

CHINA

China International Fund Management (CIFM) received the approval to complete the change in name to JPMorgan Asset Management (China) Company Limited.

The move comes after JP Morgan Asset Management received regulatory approval on January 19 from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to take full ownership of CIFM.

Further details on CFIM’s integration into JP Morgan Asset Management’s global operating model will be announced later in April, the company said.

As one of the first Sino-foreign joint ventures in China’s asset management industry, CIFM was co-founded by Shanghai Trust and JP Morgan Asset Management in May 2004.

As of December 2022, CIFM manages Rmb160 billion ($23 billion) client assets.

Source: JP Morgan Asset Management

INDIA

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) are planning to invest over $526 million (Rs4,300 crore) in IndInfravit, an Indian infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) majority owned by them, two sources close to the development told the Economic Times of India.

This funding is linked to IndInfravit's acquisition of a portfolio of five Indian road assets from Brookfield valued at $1.2 billion.

The Brookfield portfolio consists of three toll road projects and two annuity projects, spanning around 2,400 lane km across several Indian states.

The deal is expected to close soon, and the funds will be used to finance the acquisition, repay part of the debts and for capital expenses.

Source: Economic Times of India

The insurance regulator is looking to issue 20 new insurance licenses to companies.

The regulator is following up with interested companies to submit the required documentation to fast-track the issue of 20 new applications, said Debashish Panda, chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, in Mumbai at an industry event.

Earlier this year, the regulator approved the applications of two life insurance companies— Acko Life Insurance and Credit Access Life and Insurance — and one general insurance company— Kshema General Insurance.

Source: BQPrime

INDONESIA

Indonesia Investment Authority (INA), has signed a memorandum of understanding with PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk to develop a chlor-alkali plant in the country.

INA, along with other potential international investors, will explore taking an equity stake in PT Chandra Asri Alkali (CAA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chandra Asri.

Once operational, the plant will produce caustic soda (also known as sodium hydroxide), and ethylene dichloride (EDC).

Caustic soda is a critical input for Indonesia’s downstream industries, such as alumina extraction, nickel extraction

This investment supports Indonesia’s ambitions as one of the world's largest nickel producers, to position itself in the global electric vehicle value chain.

Source: INA

KOREA

The National Pension Service (NPS) and Korea's central bank have agreed to open a currency swap line as part of efforts to ease market volatility, foreign currency authorities said Thursday.

The agreement, which will run to the end of this year, will allow National Pension Service (NPS) to borrow up to US$35 billion from the foreign reserves of the Bank of Korea (BOK) in exchange for its local currency holdings, according to the BOK and the finance ministry.

The deal is partly aimed at easing dollar demand in the spot market from the NPS for its overseas investments, authorities said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Teachers’ Pension has called for bids on a $80 million global equity mandate.

The pension fund will hire 10 global asset managers for the investment that will be benchmarked against the MSCI World Index, according to a request for proposal on April 11.

Managers bidding on the tender must have a minimum of three years of experience managing Ucits funds, and at least $300 million of assets in their offshore fund portfolios.

Applications are open until April 25 and the winning bidders are expected to be appointed by June 23.

Source: Teachers’ Pension

MALAYSIA

KWAP is on track to achieve its gross fund size target of 200 billion Malaysian ringgit (US$45 billion) by 2025 despite challenging market conditions this year.

CEO Nik Amlizan Mohamed said KWAP’s current gross fund size amounted to more than RM175 billion.

Chief investment officer Hazman Hilmi Sallahuddin said KWAP will remain aggressive in its investment deployment this year. 

Source: The Malaysian Reserve

SINGAPORE

The Singapore life insurance industry will grow to $77 billion by gross written premia by 2027, according to a report by GlobalData.

That is equivalent to a compound annual growth rate of 9.8% between 2022 and 2027. Last year, the city-state’s life insurance sector grew13.3%.

Source: Insurance Business

TAIWAN

Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) investments gained NT$19.87 billion ($651 million) in the first two months of 2023, translating into a 2.8% return, after coming off its worst year since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to its monthly report published on April 6.

PSPF suffered a NT$47.8 billion loss on investments in 2022, or -6.73%.

Taiwan’s benchmark stock index, which slumped 22% in 2022, rebounded 10% in the first two months of 2023.

In the first two months of 2023, PSPF’s assets overseen by external asset managers gained NT$9.64 billion, while its internally managed portfolio gained NT$10.23 billion.

Outsourced assets accounted for 45.95% of the total NT$709.8 billion assets under management as of end-February.

Source: Public Service Pension Fund