BNP Paribas Investment Partners, the branded name for BNP Paribas Asset Management and other affiliated investment groups, is looking to hire a chief investment officer for Asia, reports Asian Investor.
The firm plans to develop locally managed investment capabilities alongside its global expertise, either via acquisition or organically; and eyes possible Taiwan onshore business.
Vincent Trouillard-Perrot, ceo for Asia ex-Japan and ex-Australia at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, says the firm intends to develop local investment teams to complement its existing range of global and Asia-focused products currently managed from Paris.
Trouillard-Perrot arrived in Hong Kong in January to lead the Asia business after five years running the investments group in Tokyo. This will be his second posting to Hong Kong, where he once served as a BNP Paribas private banker.
The first item on his agenda is developing a regional portfolio capability; this would be separate from local management teams at the firm’s three joint
ventures, with Shenyin and
Wanguo Securities in China,
Shinhan Bank in Korea and
Sundaram Finance in India.
BNP Paribas Investments now sources around €35 billion ($55 billion) from Asia-Pacific, including its JVs, of which roughly 60% is retail/private banking and the rest institutional.
”In this region we are mainly a distribution platform for products manufactured in Europe,” Trouillard-Perrot says. “These were originally designed for European investors.”
This means the firm needs to come up with more products with Asian clients in mind. For starters, most of its range is denominated in euros, and it needs more in dollars or local currencies. For certain markets, dividends are more important than in Europe. Funds should cater to home biases and local tastes, which can be more thematic.
