London-based H2O Asset Management, which is an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, is applying for a fund management licence with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
When approved, the Singapore-based entity will be the firm’s first office in Asia.
Appointments
Three appointments for the Singapore office have been announced. Philip Chow has been named chief executive and will report to chief investment officer Vincent Chailley.
Chow was previously Amundi Singapore’s chief investment officer from 2016-2018, when he helped oversee investment and business activity in Asia Pacific and was part of Amundi Group’s global executive committee for fixed income and the global fixed income architects committee, according to a statement from the company.
Also joining Chow from Amundi in Singapore is Lhoucine Aderdor, who has been appointed as a senior portfolio manager. He also was a senior portfolio manager, where he co-managed global fixed income benchmarked and absolute return funds and mandates with a focus on foreign exchange, rates and credit.
H2O also hired Alexis Lavergne as client portfolio manager. He was previously from Blackrock in Singapore within the southeast Asia ex-Singapore client business, covering asset and wealth managers in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei.
The firm said it plans to add additional staff next year.
Expansion
“H2O’s expansion in Singapore is consistent with Natixis IM’s strategic plans to increase local management in the Asia-Pacific region and continue to expand our product range,” Frabrice Chemouny, head of Asia Pacific at Natixis IM, said in the statement.
The firm provides investors with global macro multi-strategy investments under the Ucits framework and manages $29.8bn (£23.4bn, €26.3bn) in assets globally.
Currently it sells seven funds to accredited investors in Singapore, according to FE data.
“Our move into Asia is a natural progression in our efforts to expand our services and capabilities to better service our clients, especially for those who are based in the Asia-Pacific region,” Bruno Crastes, H2O’s chief executive, said.
H2O AM was co-founded by Crastes and Chailley in 2010. It has 24 fund managers and an overall staff of 66 professionals.
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