At Eastspring – the asset management arm of Prudential Corporation Asia – Mason will take on the new role of executive vice chairman, the company said.
In this role, he will continue to maintain executive responsibility for Eastpring’s asset management joint venture companies in India, China and Hong Kong, a part of which means he will continue to serve on the respective boards.
He will also continue to serve as chairman of Eastspring Investments (Singapore), which the company regards as the “core” of its business.
Mason has been involved with Prudential Group’s asset management operations for more than 20 years.
The changes take effect on 1 August.
Strapp, who joined Eastspring in 2007, has spent more than 25 years in asset management roles in Australia and across Asia. Prior to succeeding Mason as CEO of Eastspring, he has held the title of CEO of its Singapore and Hong Kong businesses.
Expansion
Eastspring recently announced plans to expand its distribution activities to Europe, with the establishment of a management company in Luxembourg. That entity has also applied to open a branch office in the UK, which Eastspring said is “currently under consideration” by the regulatory authorities there.
The business also expanded its Asia asset management footprint last year with the opening of an office in Indonesia.
As reported, Prudential took the decision to re-brand its Asia asset management operations as Eastspring Investments in November 2011, as part of a strategy aimed at expanding its presence in Europe and Asia, and eventually entering the the North American market. The Eastspring Investments brand replaced the various names the company had been using at that point in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
In a statement announcing the new roles for Mason and Strapp today, Eastspring noted that assets under management at the company are currently approaching $100bn, up from about $68 billion over the past three and a half years. This has made it the "largest retail manager in Asia", Eastspring noted, citing a regional asset management publication’s ranking published in September.
