Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) has been selected as the custodian and fund administrator for Daiwa SB Investments’ (DSBI) first Hong Kong-domiciled fund.
The fund, Japan High Dividend Stocks Fund, which was launched in October, is the first Hong Kong-domiciled product investing in the Japanese stock market.
“It was natural to extend our longstanding relationship with BBH to launch this new strategy, leveraging the firm’s decades of experience in providing cross-border services to meet the high standard required by prominent Japanese asset managers,” said Jay Okada, managing director, DSBI (HK).
The number of authorized Hong Kong-domiciled funds has grown 145% over the past five years, with the net value of Hong Kong-domiciled unit trusts increasing to $151 billion.
Hong Kong has accelerated its goal to become the next global fund hub through a number of investment access programmes with China, including the mutual recognition of funds (MRF) scheme.
“The entry of a leading Japanese asset manager into the Hong Kong fund space affirms Hong Kong’s draw as a fund domicile and supports the growth potential of the MRF channel,” said Scott McLaren, head of the BBH Hong Kong office.
“Hong Kong is rapidly transforming into an important cross-border fund management center and attracting other leading asset managers from around the world.”