Just as everything looks to be going pear-shaped in Asia, new figures show that Singapore’s asset management industry has blown up in big way over the past year with its total AUM swelling by just under a third to S$2.4 trillion ($1.7 trillion) in 2014.
The numbers, released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), represent a 30% growth and no doubt add weight to the city state’s rep as a pan-Asian asset management hub. What’s more, it been fairly consistent, with AUM expanding 14% over the past five years.
Part of this is down to the growing number of managers flocking to the city state: 38 licensed fund managers got registered with the MAS last year, bringing the total to 591. But that doesn’t account for the massive increase in AUM across the 735 financial institutions included in the survey.
Most of the swell came from traditional asset managers that accounted for 76% of the capital flow – their AUM bloated by 38% year-on-year. Private equity meanwhile seemed to be the fastest area of growth among alternatives with PE managers seeing their assets grow 24%.
So, Singapore’s position as the Mecca of Asian finance is secure. For now. MAS is under no illusion about the challenges it faces as financial technology threatens to redraw the map of Asian finance. There is a reason by MAS has committed $225 million to the sector – to make sure it stays ahead of the game.
Photo: istock