«We keep adding both investment as well as business development expertise on the ground. Otherwise, we won’t be able to accomplish our achievements in Asia,» Carol Wong from Old Mutual Global Investors says in an interview with finews.asia.
Mrs. Wong, you have set a brisk pace in expanding the Hong Kong business, on-boarding major new clients and raising brand awareness. What has been the biggest challenge you have faced so far?
The market is highly competitive and many fund houses offer a wide range of products. The biggest challenge under this environment is to get the right products on-boarded on our distributor platforms, whilst offering differentiated products to our clients.
On the flip side, what success at Old Mutual has given you the most satisfaction?
It is getting Old Mutual funds on-boarded on a wide number of key global private bank platforms within the past 2 years. This brings us the most satisfaction. Also getting our brand known among professional investors is another key achievement as we are relatively new to this region. Old Mutual Global Investors’ presence across Asia has been greatly expanded in recent years.
«We continue to find different solutions for our investors under different environments»
Our appointed third party independent brand survey specialist «B-different» conducts the brand survey in Asia and the result demonstrates that our company has received a relatively high score for favourability and our brand awareness has been raised a lot in the industry in these years. Leading my team to achieve all these significant work in Asia brings immense satisfaction too.
In the current difficult markets how have you managed to keep moving forward?
We continue to find different solutions for our investors under different environments. It is very important to provide sufficient support and resources to our clients on a timely basis. Apart from this, opening up more channels of distribution and developing businesses across various markets in Asia also keep us moving forward.
You are in constant contact with your London headquarters to calibrate the Asian strategy. Is there a strong commitment in supporting you?
Absolutely! Old Mutual has a very strong commitment to Asia businesses. We keep adding both investment as well as business development expertise on the ground. Otherwise, we won’t be able to accomplish our achievements in Asia.
«We have hired a Head of Sales for South East Asia to support the business growth in Singapore»
Internally, we have different committees comprising key decision-makers from both Asia and London offices focusing on the formulation and implementation of Asia strategies. I visit London every quarter to provide updates on our Asia businesses and have discussion with various teams in London so as to get more resources for our region.
What are your plans for Singapore in the near term?
We have hired a Head of Sales for South East Asia to support the business growth in Singapore. He will join us soon and he has extensive experience in servicing distributors in the region. We already have a number of distributors in Singapore selling our funds and we plan to sign up more.
«We will further introduce our products and services to Malaysia and Thailand»
We will also further expand our presence and introduce our products and services to other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. Additionally, we have plans to further expand our senior management team to better support business growth in Singapore and the region.
What plans do you have for the Southeast Asian region?
We would like to offer our best-in-class products and solutions for Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. More participation in the industry events across Southeast Asia is also one of our strategies to support this plan. By leveraging our resources in Hong Kong and in London, we strongly believe we are able to grow our business successfully in the Southeast Asian region.
Carol Wong is the Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Old Mutual Global Investors, based in Hong Kong. She joined the London headquartered firm in November 2013 to to drive business in Asia. She has recently turned her focus on to Singapore and the ASEAN region and will be making announcements soon on the expansion of the Southeast Asian business. She was an Executive Committee member of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association from 2009-2013 and has been a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1997. finews.asia met with Wong on her last trip into Singapore.
