The global multi-asset investor with approximately $900 billion in assets under management said the Covid-19 outbreak has not affected the firm's ambitious plans in the region.
«Yes, there are risks everywhere, but we do it carefully. What we have done is to stay competitive in the market. And this is really helping us,» said Terence Lam, managing director, head of sales and marketing Asia, Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM), about the firm's recent growth.
«As a firm, we are in expansion mode on a global perspective, but especially in Asia, where we have ambitious targets,» Lam said in an interview with finews.asia.
In the past few years, Axa IM has expanded its investment capabilities in the region, in particular in Hong Kong, where it has created «Chorus,» a new alternatives platform, and is building up its Asian fixed income capabilities. To boost its distribution and marketing capabilities in Asia, the firm recently appointed six senior executives.
New Markets
«All the private banks and wealth management firms, who are global distributors, are seeing the growth from Asia. So we need to beef up our capabilities in Asia to be able to support them,» Lam said about the set-up of Axa IM.
«We’re not here to do everything, but there are specific markets we focus on,» he said, noting that with the firm's new resources, it is expanding its reach in Thailand and Taiwan, and is looking into Malaysia the Philippines, and Indonesia, where it hopes to find a key distributor.
Lam said Axa IM has also been «doing quite a bit of business» with sovereign wealth funds and central banks in the region, with some key fixed income strategies. The firm has over $560 billion in fixed income, out of a total AUM of close to $900 billion (as of December 2019).
ESG Integration
Lam noted the growing requests and interactions from clients in Asia in the area of ESG-integrated investments. «We recognize and appreciate the fact that investments with high ESG ratings are doing better in this environment. So more and more, we see that this is the way to go,» Lam said.
Some $570 billion of the firm's AUM is already ESG-integrated, and its «Rosenberg» equity investment platform is one of the first in the market to be fully integrated, and Axa IM is aiming for full integration for its fixed income strategies in the near future.
«I think we’ve made good progress, and we’re not following the market, which I hope will bring us a lot of new opportunities and bring Axa IM to a new level,» he added.
Here for the Long-Term
«One thing I always bear in mind is that we’re in the asset management business, so we’re here for the long term and want to grow our business consistently,» Lam said about the firm's plans going forward.
«This is the joy of being in the asset management industry, because when there is a market crash or market dislocation, you will have something else that is suitable for clients.»
