Asean and Australia provide a huge potential for growth as the fund management industries in these regions become increasingly sophisticated. And although there has been little change in winners of The Asset Triple A Asset Servicing Awards 2020 over last year’s, this fact belies the intense competition going on within each market in the areas of fund administration for retail funds, fund administration for alternatives, domestic custody, and subcustody.

In the area of fund administration of retail funds, new structures, such as the variable capital company (VCC) in Singapore and the open-ended fund company (OFC) in Hong Kong, are opening up new possibilities.

For this year’s awards, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered emerged as the dominant players in the area of fund administration and retail funds. With local markets expanding, and disparate standards and platforms across this region, service providers can truly make a difference.

In the area of fund administration of alternative funds, the appetite for private equity and venture capital funds has resulted in new players specializing in the administration of such funds giving traditional fund administrators a run for their money. This year, boutique provider Linnovate Partners, which has US$35 billion in assets under management, wins the award for Best Fund Administrator – Alternatives for Private Equity and Venture Capital in Hong Kong. HSBC takes the award for Best Fund Administrator – Alternatives for Private Funds in Hong Kong and Singapore.

In custody services, demand from local institutions seeking to invest overseas has resulted in the emergence of aggregators. These are domestic custodians who pool the accounts of their clients to build the critical mass of funds necessary to use the services of a global custodian. This aggregation is already happening in Malaysia.

In terms of geography, the Australian market continues to provide new opportunities for service providers catering to wealth management specialists. While superannuations still account for a huge chunk of the market, wealth managers and private banks are emerging as additional sources of capital that need specialized servicing.

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 view the winners of The Asset Triple A Asset Servicing Awards 2020, please click here.

For more details about The Asset Awards, please click here.

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