BNP Paribas Securities Services has added Hong Kong to its cross-border fund distribution network, enabling fund manager clients to register funds for distribution to local institutional investor clients. The use of local registered fund representatives is a legal requirement for foreign managers in Hong Kong.
The latest development takes the total number of markets in which BNP Paribas supports distribution with an on-the-ground presence to 10 across Europe and Asia.
According to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers in March, titled Benchmark your global fund distribution, more than 75% of the worlds top 50 managers have established distribution channels in Hong Kong in the past decade. Lawrence Au, head of Asia Pacific at BNP Paribas Securities Services said: Hong Kong is an extremely attractive domicile for fund promoters looking to reach more end investors.
Philippe Ricard, the global custodians head of asset and fund services said: In the current climate of dwindling asset volumes, the need for fund managers to secure more inflows by reaching more end investors is critical. Our cross-border distribution capabilities optimize the channels through which managers can achieve this, while reducing their distribution costs.
Our expanding footprint in Asia coupled with our expertise in exporting UCITS fund distribution best-practice from Europe gives us a significant edge over the competition.
BNP Paribas is also enhancing its transfer agency service by centralizing access for clients to their fund managers entire range of funds. Via a single registration and instruction process, fund managers clients will receive standard, local-language reports on their assets. Fund managers also receive integrated distribution monitoring of their funds in Hong Kong together with those distributed in other markets, via a consolidated view of their entire range of funds.
(JDC)