Prudential’s Asian asset management business, Eastspring Investments, has finalised its acquisition of 65% of TMB Asset Management (TMBAM).
TMBAM is part of TM Bank (TMB) and is Thailand’s fifth largest asset manager, with £10bn ($13.1bn €11.4bn) of assets under management.
Eastspring also announced in July that it can increase its ownership to 100% in the future. The partnership with TMB, the seventh largest bank by assets in Thailand, will allow TMB’s customers to access Eastspring’s investments.
The announcement was made during an event held in Bangkok, where Nic Nicandrou, chief executive of Prudential Corporation Asia, said: “The acquisition and distribution partnership reinforces Prudential’s strong commitment to Thailand, complements our growing life insurance business and allows us to accelerate our growth in this exciting market. We look forward to working with the team at TMB to protect and grow the wealth of our customers.”
Thailand is one of the fastest growing Asian markets and it now adds to Eastspring’s presence in 10 Asian markets, as well as its US, UK and European offices, the company said.
According to Guy Strapp, chief executive of Eastspring, the early stages of the partnership will focus on three main areas: Establishing a range of “best in class” investment solutions for its new Thai customers; integrating the investment teams with both new and existing Eastspring strategies; and implementing digital solutions.
Prudential has been operating in Thailand for over 20 years through Prudential Life Assurance and it serves 1.5 million customers in Thailand alone.
Piti Tantakasem, chief executive of TMB, said: “Eastspring’s investment expertise and strong footprint in Asia will provide enormous benefits to our customers. Our partnership with Eastspring supports our strategic endeavour of ‘TMB Open Architecture’ that is designed to provide our customers with access to world-class products and services.”
