In addition to the four funds that Threadneedle had already made available, it said the bank’s customers could now access the Threadneedle (Lux) Developed Asia Growth and Income Fund.
Other than this fund, Threadneedle had already made available following share classess available in the four funds on the bank's distribution platform:
- Threadneedle (Lux) Global Emerging Market Short-Term Bonds SGD Hedged
- Threadneedle (Lux) Global Emerging Market Short-Term Bonds USD
- Threadneedle (Lux) Pan European Equities EUR
- Threadneedle (Lux) Pan European Equities SGD Hedged
- Threadneedle (Lux) Pan European Equities USD Hedged
- Threadneedle Global Equity Income Fund
- Threadneedle European Select Fund
On further plans of adding funds on the distribution the fund house said: “We are always looking into opportunities to expanding our distribution network, and will announce concrete plans at the right time.”
Threadneedle currently distributes its funds via bank distribution and third-party distributors in Singapore.
Launched in April, the Developed Asia Growth and Income Fund aims to provide dividend returns of at least 3% per annum along with capital growth by using an active total return strategy by investing in companies across developed Asia in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
The fund, which had $5.6m worth of assets as of 31 May (click here for a factsheet), is co-managed by Ng Soo Nam, head of Asian equities, and Christine Seng, fund manager.
The scheme portfolio consists of 35 to 50 companies and benchmarks its performance against a customized benchmark in which the MSCI Hong Kong and MSCI Singapore each has a 40% weighting and the MSCI Australia has the rest.
Gerard Clancy, executive director, wholesale distribution, Asia Pacific, said: “The fund is our first locally- manufactured offering and we believe that companies within Developed Asia are especially well-positioned to give investors a unique balance between growth and income, which is increasingly relevant for Asian investors.”
V. Arivazhagan, regional head of investment and treasury products at DBS Bank hopes to offer customers an opportunity to diversify their portfolios by adding this fund to their distribution.
Christine Seng, co-portfolio manager said: “As corporates focus more on growing profits and less on chasing after business expansion, we expect companies to have better cashflow positions and offer dividend payouts.”
According to Seng, such opportunities are predominantly found in the developed Asian markets of Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.
Part of NYSE-listed Ameriprise Financial, Threadneedle established its presence in Asia in 2008 and has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.
As a part of its strategy to build out its local investment and manufacturing capabilities of Asian assets, the Asian arm of UK-based Threadneedle Investments rolled out four Asia-managed funds in a short span of time between April to May.
Apart from the Developed Asia Growth and Income Fund, the other funds that are being managed from Singapore include Threadneedle (Lux) Flexible Asian Bond fund, Threadneedle (Lux) Asian Focus Fund and Threadneedle (Lux) Asia Contrarian Equity.
