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| Ferrer: Riding the recovery theme |
ATR KimEng wants to capture anywhere from 2% to 4% market share of the Philippine fund management industry, which is expected to double in size to at least US$50 billion within the next 5 years. Michael Ferrer, the newly appointed managing director of ATR KimEng Asset Advisors explains to The Asset that the funds group sees considerable opportunity in the Philippine fund management industry given the low penetration rate of mutual funds relative to household savings. “It is still one of the lowest in the world and the industry’s AUM of about US$20 billion is small compared to its peers in Asia.”
Ferrer says ATR KimEng intends to introduce new investment products to the Philippine market around the theme of global economic recovery. He says that while there seems to be an oversupply of domestic products, there is a dearth of offshore products available locally. “We would be looking to offer investment products across a variety of asset classes including equity, fixed income, currencies, and alternatives such as real estate, private equity and commodities through exchange-traded funds and REITs,” he adds.
He envisions a team of portfolio managers based out of Manila running funds invested in Asian equities and bonds. If that pushes ahead, ATR KimEng will become one of only a few regional funds running its regional funds investment activity from the Philippines. He is also looking into a multi-manager approach once the firm’s AUM increases to a certain size.
Ferrer, who joined ATR KimEng last month as a managing partner, is an industry veteran having over 20 years experience in asset management most recently as the regional general manager of ING Investment Management based in Hong Kong where he was responsible for ING’s asset management business in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philipines, India and the Middle East (Dubai).
In August 2009, ATR KimEng reorganized its funds business renaming ATRKE Direct Investments to ATRKE Asset Management. Its shareholders include ATRKE Capital, Ferrer and Phillip Hagedorn, who is the investment director of ATRKE Asset Advisors, which becomes a direct subsidiary of ATRKE Asset Management following the reorganization.
Manuel Tordesillas, president and CEO of the ATR KimEng Group says that the “expansion of the asset management business is an integral part of our strategy of building a leading position in the capital markets and brings synergies with our insurance and real estate business”. He also notes that this is an “opportune time to build capabilities in asset management while other players are retreating”.
.JPG)
