Despite travel restrictions imposed by governments across the Asia-Pacific region due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cross-border capital flow did not slow down, but instead, following a bullish 2019, it continued to drive growth in the asset servicing sector.

In China, international investors continue to stream in as regulators relax the market access rules. In addition, the inclusion of Chinese fixed-income assets in the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index in January 2019 and of A-shares into the FTSE Russell Emerging Market Index in June 2019 greatly benefited the market. At the end of 2019, foreign investors held around US$350 billion in onshore bonds and US$295 billion in A-shares.  

This year, The Asset Triple A Asset Servicing Awards for North Asia continue to recognize asset service providers that were able to deliver consistent, quality services to investors and win mandates amid increasing competition. 

HSBC, having captured major flows into China, wins The Asset Awards for Best Subcustodian; Best Custodian, Overall – Offshore; Best Custodian, QFII and RQFII; Best Custodian, Stock Connect; Best Custodian, CIBM Direct; and Best Custodian, Bond Connect - Highly Commended.

Bank of China (Hong Kong) wins Best Custodian, Highly Commended – Offshore, and Best Custodian, QDII, for their strong business growth in 2019.

Standard Chartered wins Best Custodian, Bond Connect, and Best Custodian, Stock Connect - Highly Commended, with the bank’s active participation in the two connect schemes.

For the first time, The Asset named China Construction Bank (Asia) as the Best Corporate Trust – Offshore. The Chinese bank gained significant market share from competitors in China’s offshore US dollar bond market by offering an international level of services to Chinese issuers.

In the domestic market, China Merchants Bank delivered strong business growth while winning a number of mutual fund mandates. The bank wins Best Custodian, Bank; Best Custodian, Mutual Funds; and Best in Fund Administration, Mutual Funds. China’s state-owned bank ICBC is recognized as Best Custodian, Insurance, while Agricultural Bank of China is named Best Custodian, Pension Funds.

To recognize the rise of securities companies in asset servicing, The Asset for the first time created the award for Best Custodian, Securities Company, which, this year, goes to Guotai Junan Securities. The firm is also recognized as Best in Fund Administration, Private Funds. Meanwhile, China Merchants Securities is named Best Custodian, Private Funds, and Citic Securities wins Best Custodian, Securities Companies - Rising Star.

In Hong Kong, HSBC scores the Best Subcustodian and Best Fund Administrator, Retail Funds and Private Funds. Standard Chartered is named Best Subcustodian - Highly Commended. Specialist asset servicing firm, Linnovate scoops the award as the Best Fund Administrator, Private Equity/Venture Capital.

In Taiwan, Citi wins Best Subcustodian again, while CTBC was recognized as the Best Domestic Custodian.

In South Korea, Standard Chartered wins Best Subcustodian while HSBC is named Best Domestic Custodian. HSBC also wins Best Subcustodian in Japan. 

The regional nominees for The Asset Triple A Sustainable Investing Awards 2020 for asset servicing will be featured in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

To see the Asset Servicing Awards 2020, please click here.

For more details about the awards, please click here.

For more information about receiving the awards, please contact [email protected]