Our Investment Philosophy and Capabilities

Investment Philosophy

Our equities team believes that with a rigorous and disciplined investment research process, we can identify high performing businesses that enable us to deliver superior and consistent long-term performance. By combining this detailed research effort with a systematic model portfolio construction process, we are able to effectively derive sources of alpha to achieve outperformance over time. 

Investment Approach

We invest in "High Performing Businesses at the Right Price". To achieve this, we have a strong commitment to investment research, a disciplined approach to securities selection and a highly systematic and calibrated approach to portfolio construction. 

We define High Performing Businesses as having both Superior Quality and Growth characteristics:

• Unique and differentiated business strategy/business model
• Strong performance culture
• Solid corporate governance history
• Visible competitive endowments and comparative advantages

These characteristics should be clearly visible when benchmarked against peers on both operating and financial performance metrics. 

Detailed portfolio risk and style factor analysis are conducted to ensure that the firm’s research process delivers results that are consistent with the investment style.

Investment Philosophy

Our fixed income team believes that consistent performance can be achieved through rigorous and independent fundamental research to uncover relative value opportunities. By adopting diversified investment strategies, combined with active risk management, we aim to generate sustainable total returns. 

Investment Approach

Our investment approach embodies two key principles of fundamental bottom-up research and a disciplined top-down strategy.

We place a strong emphasis on adding value through credit selection backed by our independent fundamental bottom-up research which analyses:

• Credit quality;
• Security structure; and
• Relative valuation

This is supplemented by a disciplined top-down strategy that encompasses macro-economic and market analysis on:

• Duration management; 
• Currency overlay; and
• Country/sector allocation 

A combination of the two principles enables us to adapt to varying market environments and tailor each portfolio to the needs of our different clients.

Our multi-asset team makes recommendations on strategic asset allocation based on the firm’s view on the economic outlook, and implements the balanced mandates of retail and institutional clients.

The team forms UOBAM’s House view on the economic outlook based on surveillance of global macro developments and market trends. It also assesses implications of government and central bank policies on investment strategy. It then makes recommendations on the firm’s strategic asset allocation within an investment framework that emphasises fundamentals, valuations and market dynamics. Technical factors such as market expectations and investor positioning are also taken into account.

The team manages and implements the firm’s multi-asset and balanced portfolios, drawing on the strong capabilities of UOBAM’s Equity and Fixed Income teams. With a focus on generating returns, while maintaining downside risk management, the team tailors solutions for both retail and institutional clients to help them reach their investment objectives.

Within the Alternative Investment asset class, we offer investors access to structured investments that focus on absolute return strategies, collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) and exchange traded funds. Our alternative investment products with an Asian focus range from fund of funds in private equity and hedge funds to customised solutions. The Fund of Asian Private Equity Funds seeks to provide investors with access to a diversified portfolio of emerging opportunities in Asia not easily accessible through the listed markets. The Fund of Asian Hedge Funds provides access to a diversified portfolio of absolute return managers with the goal of achieving superior risk-adjusted returns over the listed markets in the long term.