China has opened its financial market and is now only second to the U.S. market in terms of size, says Michael Levin, head of Credit Suisse asset management in Asia Pacific, in an interview with finews.asia.
«People don’t give the government enough credit for how China has developed the market and how quickly it opened the finance industry for non-Chinese rivals,» Michael Levin recently said in an interview with finews.asia.
Levin, head of asset management Asia Pacific, is based in Hong Kong, where he witnessed the emergence of the Middle Kingdom as the key power in the region. «The Chinese regulators have been very proactive in enabling access to the markets through things such as stock connect and bond connect,» Levin explained. These systems allowed Chinese investors to purchase shares in Hong Kong and beyond and vice versa.
Over 20 Years of Experience
Levin is responsible for developing and directing regional Asset Management strategy, including distribution, product and partnerships. He also works closely with institutions and the bank’s Private Banking business in delivering Asset Management investment solutions.
Prior to joining Credit Suisse in August 2011, he was the CEO of AsiaCrest Capital, a Hong Kong-based fund of hedge funds. He brings over 20 years of experience in Alternatives across both liquid and illiquid investments.
Integration Into Global Market
With the recent endorsement of the MSCI, China went a step further to integrate into a global asset market. Levin says that the next big change in the global securities market will be an increased exposure to Chinese assets on the one hand, and to India on the other.
«People know that China is the second-largest economy in the world,» he told finews.asia. «But China is also the second-largest equity market in the world and the third-largest bond market in the world. Yet investors are substantially under-allocated.»
Adventures in Southeast Asia
Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, also recently marked the second anniversary of doing private banking onshore in Thailand, one of the tiger economies in the emerging markets of Southeast Asia.
The bank kept faith in a region that has undergone significant political upheaval in recent times and as such marked a change in approach from not so long ago, when Credit Suisse was one of the fastest to turn its back on politically unstable countries such as Tunisia.
The Zurich-based company has only just opened a representative office in the Philippines for its wealth management business, a country where President Rodrigo Duterte has done little to provide for the type of stability that investors usually favor.
Asset Management: Providing Added Value
«The opening of the Southeast Asian markets is every exciting. Asset management can add value through delivering high quality solutions and investment education to private banking clients who are increasingly looking for diversified portfolios across geographies and asset classes. But we don’t just bring products to clients in these markets, but provide value added advice as well,» Levin said.
Working With the Rich
His asset management division is working hard to provide the private bank with products that differentiate the Swiss bank from its competitors and provide added value to the rich clientele, which is so ample in supply in Asia.
«We have a longer history of working with institutional clients in those markets, but the incremental opportunity is to work with private banking clients,» Levin said.
