11 Jun 2012

Eastspring Investments expands institutional business with US office opening

Eastspring Investments, the asset management arm of Prudential Corporation Asia, part of Prudential plc of the UK, and the region’s largest multinational onshore mutual fund manager, today announced the opening of its US office. The move aims to capture the increasing interest among global investors in the Asia growth story.

The Americas business is the first for Eastspring Investments to be established outside Asia where it was founded and is based. This initiative has been made possible by the rebranding earlier this year to Eastspring Investments, a name which captures the asset manager’s Asia investment expertise and eliminates a trademark impediment created by the previous name.

Prudential Corporation Asia Chief Executive Barry Stowe said the opening of the US office marked a major milestone in the expansion of Prudential Corporation Asia’s asset management business.

"This allows Eastspring Investments to take its sought after Asia investment expertise closer to the world’s largest institutional market, and brings with it significant growth opportunities," Mr Stowe said.

It is the second new office for the asset manager in as many months, following the opening of the Indonesia business in May.

Eastspring Investments’ Americas business will be headquartered in Chicago and will focus on building business with pension funds, investment consultants and large family offices. It will also have an office in Denver to facilitate business with Jackson National, also a member of the Prudential plc group of companies, and an existing client.

"Our Americas business will seek to tap into the growing interest in the long-term Asia growth story," said Eastspring Investments Chief Executive Graham Mason.

Speaking from Hong Kong, Mr Mason said this was never more apparent than now with uncertainty in Europe. "Large institutions with long-term mandates are now looking to diversify portions of their global asset allocations into markets in Asia which offer significant growth potential."

Mr Mason announced the appointment of Jeffrey Smith to lead Eastspring Investments’ efforts in the Americas and he will report to Dean Winterton, who joined Eastspring Investments last year to grow the institutional business.

Jeff joins Eastspring Investments as Head of the Americas, based in Chicago. He will focus on building the institutional business in the US and developing the firm's expansion beyond the US into the Americas.

Jeff has more than 30 years of financial services experience and was previously head of distribution at Performance Trust Investment Advisors, a specialty investment manager in distressed markets based in Chicago. He was previously head of US distribution at Pyramis Global Advisors (a unit of Fidelity Investments) and led a team establishing and managing relationships with major US institutional investors. Prior to that, Jeff had a leadership role in the Americas business of UBS Global Asset Management as co-head of institutional, based in Chicago.

As part of the Americas sales effort, Mr. Mason also announced the appointment of Pamela Aurbach. Pam is Senior Vice President Institutional sales based in Denver and joins from Prudential plc sister company Jackson National Life Distributors where she was responsible for assessing the viability of new product offerings, geographies and distribution channels. During her career with Jackson National, Pam was seconded to Prudential UK where she was head of business development services in the intermediary sales division. Before joining Jackson National, Pam worked at GE Life and Annuity and then Transamerica, where she was responsible for annuity product development and distribution. She brings 20 years of experience in financial services to the role.

"The appointment of people of the calibre of Jeff and Pam underpin our conviction in the significant potential of the US, and indeed the Americas," said Mr Winterton.

"They will be establishing relationships on our behalf with institutional clients, pension funds and consultants who are seeking to increase their exposure to Asia," he said.

"In particular, Pam will be working closely with our partners at Jackson National for whom we already manage a sizeable pool of assets, to focus on maximising the opportunity to tap the large variable annuity product base which is meeting the needs of the US’s ageing population."

About Eastspring Investments:

Eastspring Investments, part of Prudential Corporation Asia, is Prudential's asset management business in Asia. We are one of Asia’s largest and most successful asset managers, with operations in eleven markets, approximately 2000 employees in Asia and about US$85 billion (£53.4 billion) in assets under management (at 31 March 2012).

We manage funds on behalf of a wide range of retail and institutional investors, including life and pension products sold by Prudential in the UK and across Asia.

We have investment teams in nine markets, including our regional hub in Singapore. We have a large group of Asia-based investment managers who manage funds across a broad range of asset classes including one of the largest pools of Fixed Income assets in Asia, Asia equities (including global emerging market equities) and alternative assets including private equity, property and infrastructure. Our team also includes a specialist Global Asset Allocation team which manages portfolios worldwide from the perspective of the world’s fastest growing region.

About half of our total assets are sourced from third party clients. We are the largest multinational onshore mutual fund manager in the region1.

Recent awards include China Equity A, Greater China Equity A, Indonesia Equity A and Asian Property Securities A funds for outstanding performance over three years at the Edge/Lipper Singapore Fund Awards 2012. In Taiwan, our China Equity Fund A won the 2012 Lipper Funds Awards for outstanding performance over three years.

Eastspring Investments operates in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Vietnam, and has joint venture operations in India, China and Hong Kong.

In addition to Eastspring Investments, Prudential Corporation Asia (PCA) comprises the life insurance and consumer finance operations of Prudential plc2 in Asia. PCA businesses span 12 markets, covering China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Prudential plc is the leading Europe-based life insurer in terms of market coverage and number of top three positions with more than 360,000 employees and agents across the region serving over 12 million customers.

www.eastspringinvestments.com

1Source: Korea (KOFIA), India (AMFI), Singapore/Malaysia (Lipper), Japan (ITA), Taiwan (SITCA), China (Wind). Competitors selected based on the largest multi-national players in the following 7 Asian markets: Korea, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, China. 100% FUM accounted for all players, regardless of ownership stake.

2Prudential plc, incorporated and with its principal place of business in England, and its affiliated companies constitute one of the world's leading financial services groups and has been in existence for over 160 years. It provides insurance and financial services directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.

Media Enquiries:
Jacinta Reddan, Eastspring Investments, +852 2918 6379/9265 3020
jacinta.reddan@eastspringinvestments.com

The Consultancy
Emma Smith, +852 3114 6336/9308 0099
esmith@consultancy-pr.com.hk
Judith Bence, +61 415 903 849
jbence@consultancy-pr.com.hk

Jackson National Life Insurance Company

Prudential

You are about to enter the website of our US affiliate Jackson National Life Insurance Company, an indirect subsidiary of Prudential plc of the United Kingdom.

Proceed to the site

Prudential

If you are looking for an affiliate of Prudential Financial, Inc, whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.

Proceed to the site

Prudential plc is an international company incorporated in the United Kingdom, and its affiliated companies constitute one of the world’s leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financial services directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world, and it has been in existence for over 170 years. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America, or the Prudential Assurance Company, a subsidiary of M&G plc (a company incorporated in the United Kingdom).

PPM America

Prudential

You are about to enter the website of our US affiliate PPM America, an indirect subsidiary of Prudential plc of the United Kingdom.

Proceed to the site

Prudential

If you are looking for an affiliate of Prudential Financial, Inc, whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.

Proceed to the site

Prudential plc is an international company incorporated in the United Kingdom, and its affiliated companies constitute one of the world’s leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financial services directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world, and it has been in existence for over 170 years. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America, or the Prudential Assurance Company, a subsidiary of M&G plc (a company incorporated in the United Kingdom).

  • Load
  • More

For M&G and Prudential UK customers and policyholders:

In October 2019, Prudential plc separated its UK operations and, as a result of this separation, Prudential UK is now owned by M&G plc. The M&G plc group is a separate, independent group and as such we are not able to help any M&G or Prudential UK customers or policyholders.

Therefore, to find the best way to make contact, please visit www.pru.co.uk/contact-us

For further information on the M&G plc group, please visit the M&G website: www.mandg.com