3 asset managers reveal plans for funds allotted to boost S’pore stock market

Avanda and Fullerton to invest in local stocks, JP Morgan will include other Asian equities

- Chor Khieng Yuit Senior Business Correspondent

The Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) has injected a dose of optimism into the Singapore markets.

Mr Joey Choy, a remisier and trader at Phillip Securities, said the initiative will “bring a lot of positive sentiment to Singapore equities”.

“We could just be at the beginning phase,” he added.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the programme on Feb 21. It had said then that it was setting aside $5 billion for fund managers to invest in Singapore equities, especially those in the smalland mid-cap space.

An initial amount of $1.1 billion has been allocated to three asset managers under the EQDP programme in an announcement on July 21 - Avanda Investment Management, Fullerton Fund Management and JP Morgan Asset Management.

The Sunday Times looks at the upcoming funds.

AVANDA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Avanda Investment Management will launch the Avanda Singapore Discovery Fund “hopefully in October”.

The fund is managed by the firm’s partner and head of equities, Mr Richard Chan, and its portfolio manager, Mr Sherman Lim.

Mr Chan said the fund will focus on companies apart from the three big local banks DBS Bank, UOB and OCBC Bank. These companies could be among the 30 Straits Times Index (STI) constituents, or they could be outside the index, he added.

There are decent household names in the Singapore market that have been neglected, under-researched and undervalued, he said.

Three themes — Value-up, Local Champions and Turnaround - guide its investment strategy, with half the portfolio comprising Value-up type of companies and the other half made up of Turnaround and Local Champions.