HK funds for ASEAN

HK funds for ASEAN

SINGAPORE (AFP): HSBC Holdings plc's asset management arm has
shifted from Hong Kong to Singapore the management responsibility
for regional investment funds totaling S$1 billion (US$714.28
million), officials said yesterday.

The funds are invested in the rapidly growing economies of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprising Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The transfer of the funds was to ensure that they were managed
within the region where the fund managers made the investments,
said Tommy Thompson, HSBC Asset Management chief executive for
the Asia-Pacific region.

HSBC Asset Management, which handles more than US$30 billion
worth of assets worldwide, is the global investment advisory and
money management business division of Britain's HSBC Holdings.

The funds managed here from July 1 included the US$212 million
Asian Newly Industrialized Countries (ANIC) Fund and the US$319.8
million ASEAN Fund, said Foo Pek Hong, general manager of HSBC
Asset Management in Singapore.