Amova, Eastspring target growth in Singapore’s small- and mid-cap stocks

Two newly appointed fund managers under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) have provided greater insight on how they will deploy the capital allocated to them by the regulator.

- Benjamin Lim Correspondent and Kang Wan Chern Deputy Business Editor

Amova Asset Management, formerly Nikko Asset Management, and Eastspring Investments are among the second batch of six fund managers announced by MAS on Nov 19 to receive a total of $2.85 billion under the EQDP to invest in the Singapore stock market.

The other fund managers are AR Capital, BlackRock, Lion Global Investors and Manulife Investment Management.

This comes after $1.1billion of the $5 billion programme was previously allocated to three fund managers — Avanda Investment Management, Fullerton Fund Management and JP Morgan Asset Management ~ in July.

A total of $3.95 billion out of the $5 billion has now been allocated.

Amova is planning to launch two new funds by the first quarter of 2026. One will target a spread of small to large stocks, with a tilt towards smalland mid-cap companies, it said on Nov 25.

The other will focus solely on smalland mid-cap stocks, making Amova the first fund manager to launch such a fund. It is also the first fund manager under the EQDP to launch two products.

More details about the funds will be revealed later as they are currently subject to approval by MAS.