BNP Paribas Adds Hong Kong to Cross-Border Distribution Network
BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP Paribas) today announced that it has added Hong Kong to its cross-border fund distribution network, enabling it to support non-Hong Kong-domiciled fund managers’ distribution requirements in the region.
The move simplifies and optimises global fund managers’ access to Hong Kong by making it easier for them to register funds for distribution and interact with their local institutional investor clients more efficiently.
The use of local registered fund representatives is a legal requirement for foreign managers in Hong Kong and the bank’s announcement will support its clients by satisfying this critical legal requirement.
The development also includes an enhanced transfer agency service that centralises access for clients to their fund managers’ entire range of funds. Via a single registration and instruction process, international managers’ clients in Hong Kong – typically banks, independent financial advisers and insurers – will benefit from standard, local-language reports on their assets.
Fund managers also benefit from 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.
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. Appetite for international funds among banks and asset owners in Hong Kong is high: more than 75%* of the world’s top 50 managers have established distribution channels in Hong Kong in the past decade.”
Philippe Ricard, the global custodian’s 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 optimise 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.”
The move reinforces one of the most comprehensive cross-border distribution networks offered by any custodian, taking the total number of markets in which BNP Paribas supports distribution with an on-the-ground presence to ten across Europe and Asia. It follows the recent announcement that BNP Paribas has become the first custodian to offer custody services in Mongolia through a trust account arrangement.
*PricewaterhouseCoopers March 2012 report: “Benchmark your global fund distribution”
