UOB bank
Exclusive tie-up makes it the first time individual investors can access the fund through an investment-linked plan
Singapore, 12 May 2021 – FWD Singapore (“FWD”) today announced a collaboration with UOB Asset Management Ltd (“UOBAM”) to offer the United China-A Shares Innovation Fund through its flagship Investment-Linked Plan (“ILP”), Invest First.
The exclusive tie-up between the leading digital insurer and one of Asia’s premier asset managers means that this is the first time individual investors can access the fund through an ILP.
Adrian Vincent, General Manager of FWD Singapore’s Life Business, said, “This exclusive partnership with UOBAM further accelerates our ambition of providing a wide range of top-quartile funds in Singapore to our partner Financial Advisory firms.
This will enable them to better support our customers’ saving and retirement goals, which is timely amidst the current environment of low interest rates. At the same time, we also hope to be a trusted partner in our customers’ financial planning journeys with the array of digital tools we have on our platform, including our automatic fund re-balancing instrument, Goal Simulator for retirement planning and advanced fund comparison site.”
The United China-A Shares Innovation Fund focuses on key and new growth areas in the Chinese economy, including its leading mobile and digital technology sectors, which are propelled by the country’s growing middle-income population. The Fund offers investors a window to China’s vibrant innovation scene and gives customers access to the country’s A-Shares market, making it an ideal addition to FWD’s existing pool of more than 50 carefully curated funds from globally established fund managers.
The United China-A Shares Innovation Fund has seen strong investor interest in Singapore, as well as Japan, Malaysia and Thailand . As at 30 April 2021, the United China-A Shares Innovation Fund has achieved returns of 138.32 per cent since its inception in August 2019 and an annualised return of 64.35 per cent2.
Binayak Dutta, Managing Director and Group Chief Distribution Officer, Emerging Markets, FWD, said, “We are delighted to work with UOBAM, which is one of Asia’s leading asset managers with a well-established track record of providing investment products to its customers. This perfectly complements FWD’s strategic focus on Asia, as we continually assess opportunities to grow our business, whilst changing the way people feel about insurance.”
Faizal Gaffoor, Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer, UOBAM, said, “At UOBAM, we create and offer progressive and innovative fund solutions, enabling investors to seize market opportunities. In this regard, we are pleased to collaborate with leading digital intermediaries such as FWD Singapore to help its customers invest into trends and bright spots that drive China’s growth through the United China-A Shares Innovation Fund.”
Customers who are interested to find out more about FWD Invest First can contact any of its financial advisory partners or visit www.fwd.com.sg.
About FWD Group
Established in Asia in 2013 with a trailblazer mentality, FWD is the primary insurance business of investment group, Pacific Century Group.
FWD Group spans 10 markets in Asia including Hong Kong SAR & Macau SAR, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Cambodia, offering life and medical insurance, general insurance, employee benefits, Shariah and family takaful products across a number of its markets.
FWD is focused on creating fresh customer experiences and making the insurance journey simpler, faster and smoother, with innovative propositions and easy-to-understand products, supported by digital technology. Through this customer-led approach, FWD aims to be a leading pan-Asian insurer by changing the way people feel about insurance.
FWD started operations in Singapore in 2016 and is one of the first fully direct and online life and general insurers, with the capability to provide offline advisory services to our customers.
For more information please visit www.fwd.com.sg
About UOB Asset Management Ltd
UOB Asset Management Ltd (UOBAM) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Overseas Bank Limited. Established in 1986, UOBAM has been managing collective investment schemes and discretionary funds in Singapore for more than 30 years. We are one of the largest unit trust managers in terms of assets under management. As at 31 March 2021, we managed 59 unit trusts in Singapore and together with our subsidiaries, managed about S$37.7 billion in clients' assets.
UOBAM has an extensive presence in Asia with regional business and investment offices in Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Our network includes UOB Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd in Malaysia. We have a joint venture with Ping An Fund Management Company Limited (China) and we have also forged strategic alliances with UTI International (India) and Wellington Management Singapore.
UOBAM is one of the most awarded fund management companies, winning several awards at the Asia Asset Management Best of the Best Awards 2021 and 2020. UOBAM was named ‘Best Asset Management House (Singapore)’ in 2021 and ‘Best Asset Management House (Regional)’ in 2020. Our robo-adviser, UOBAM Invest, also won ‘Best Fintech Innovation in Asset Management’ in Malaysia and Singapore respectively in 2021 and 2020, as well as ‘Best Digital Wealth Management’ in Thailand in 2021. UOBAM Brunei has also been named ‘Best Sukuk Manager’ in 2021 after two consecutive wins of ‘Best Investor Education’ in 2020 and 2019.
UOBAM also won ‘Asia Fund House of the Year’ and ‘Best Fund House (Thailand)’ at the AsianInvestor Asset Management Awards 2020 and 2019, ranked fourth for ‘Top Investment Houses in Asian G3 Bonds’ at The Asset Benchmark Research Awards 2020. In addition, we were named ‘Best Asset Management Firm Singapore’ and ‘Best Asia Fixed Income Fund House Singapore’ at the International Finance Awards 2018 and ‘Best Fixed Income Fund House’ award at the Morningstar Awards 2017.
For more information on the list of awards won by UOBAM, please visit www.uobam.com.sg
1Please refer to UOBAM news release: “UOB Asset Management's two China-focused funds attract more than S$1 billion in assets under management in less than two years”, 3 May 2021.
2Source: Bloomberg, as at 30 April 2021. Returns are in SGD terms converted from JPY Class Acc with dividends and distributions reinvested if any. Returns are based on the United China-A Shares Innovation fund portfolio in JPY basis, with net annual management fee of 0.30 per cent. Returns are calculated on a single pricing basis (excluding any subscription fees and realisation fees which have been waived for non-retail investors). Past performance of the Fund or UOBAM and any past performance, prediction, projection or forecast on the economy or markets are not necessarily indicative of the future or likely performance of the Fund or UOBAM.