Aviva Investors to expand in Asia-Pacific region

Singapore : Aviva Investors, the asset management arm of British insurer Aviva, plans to expand in Asia-Pacific by hiring bond and equity fund managers in Singapore and setting up a sales offices in Japan.

Aviva Investors intends to set up a regional asset management firm in Singapore and will hire 25-30 people to build up its equities and fixed income investment capabilities, Asia Pacific CEO Craig Bingham told reporters in Singapore.

Aviva Investors plans to set up offices in Saudi Arabia and Japan to distribute its investment products, Bingham added "Asia is still a substantial greenfield for us," Bingham said.

He added that he was currently in the process of hiring a CEO for the Singapore-based Asia Pacific office, who would in turn recruit fund managers, analysts, marketing and support staff.

Asset management firms have seen a turnaround in fortunes over the past one year in line with a recovery in global markets, with some hedge funds also looking to expand into Asian financial centres Singapore and Hong Kong.

Affiliates

Aviva Investors currently has about $420 billion (Dh1,542 billion) in assets under management, the bulk of it from parent company Aviva and other insurance affiliates, Bingham said.

Only about $20 billion of the funds are invested in Asia, of which about half is managed out of Australia and the rest from London.

Bingham said there was a strong interest among existing clients to invest a larger portion of their funds in Asia, and predicted the Singapore operation will manage about $3 billion three years from now.