Skip to content
International Adviser
  • Contact
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Regions
    • United Kingdom
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • North America
    • Latin America
  • Industry
    • Tax & Regulation
    • Products
    • Life
    • Health & Protection
    • People Moves
    • Companies
    • Offshore Bonds
    • Retirement
    • Technology
    • Platforms
  • Investment
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Alternatives
    • Multi Asset
    • Property
    • Macro Views
    • Structured Products
    • Emerging Markets
    • Commodities
  • IA 100
  • Best Practice
    • Best Practice News
    • Best Practice Awards
  • Media
    • Video
    • Podcast
  • My IA
    • Events
    • IA Tax Panel
    • IA Intermediary Panel
    • About IA

ANNOUNCEMENT: Read more financial articles on our partner site, click here to read more.

SIGN IN INTERNATIONAL ADVISER

Access full content on the International Adviser site, access your saved articles, control email preferences and amend your account details

[login-with-ajax]
Not Registered?

pwc proposes a revamping

By International Adviser, 12 Nov 13

Singapore should consider revamping the way its investment fund laws are structured, to permit different asset management industry sectors to offer more variety and thus cater to a brader range of clients, a new PwC white paper says.

Singapore should consider revamping the way its investment fund laws are structured, to permit different asset management industry sectors to offer more variety and thus cater to a brader range of clients, a new PwC white paper says.

Its recommendations come as Singapore, along with other Asian wealth management centres, are working to develop a pan-Asia fund passporting regime, similar to Europe’s UCITS funds directives.

PwC bases its recommendations on feedback it received from a survey conducted during July and August of this year. Those surveyed included registered or licensed asset managers operating in Singapore, as well as some foreign fund groups, and spanned all the key industry sub-sectors, such as traditional funds, private equity, real estate and hedge funds. 

Singapore does not currently have an investment fund platform that caters to the specific needs of hedge funds, private equity, securitisation or cross border investment funds, PwC notes. 

"To compete or even be on par with global investment centres such as Luxembourg, Dublin, and Cayman Islands, Singapore  must be able to offer a variety of investment fund platforms beyond the current structures – such as open-ended companies, segregated portfolio companies, and even segregated sub-funds," said Justin Ong, asset management leader at PwC Singapore. 

According to Ong, the creation of such a framework for the funds industry could lead to an increase in the number of funds set up and managed in the southeast Asian city-state, which is already one of the world’s most important wealth management centres.

SICAV-type structure 

In the paper, entitled Why not, indeed?, PwC also calls for the creation of a corporatised investment vehicle structure like the SICAV, an open-ended collective investment scheme popular in Europe. SICAV is a French acronym that translates as investment company with variable capital. 

The current regulatory framework in Singapore is structured to accommodate investment funds set up as unit trusts, which don’t permit access to the privileges offered through double tax treaties, or a corporate vehicle which comes with many restrictive components that makes it investor unfriendly, PwC points out. 

PwC also suggests that Singapore adapt its fund laws in ways that would better accommodate the various relevant market sub-sectors, such as private equity, real estate, hedge funds and retail-distributed funds, while also providing better governance and protection for investors. 

‘Bandwidth’ needed

Meanwhile, with the approaching creation of a pan-Asia fund passporting regime, Ong points out, Singapore should ensure it has the bandwidth to allow alternative investment structures to accommodate both regulator and investor preferences. 

And, in line with other investment centres, Singapore should also seek to introduce legislation that offers regulated fund products to all types of investors, including the retail market, which typically requires more regulatory intervention.

PwC suggests that Singapore’s financial authorities adopt a systematic and meticulously-planned, phased in approach to implementing its recommendations.  

For more information on PwC’s proposals for Singapore’s funds industry, click here. To download the 12-page white paper, click here.

Tags: PWC

Share this article
Follow by Email
Facebook
fb-share-icon
X (Twitter)
Post on X
LinkedIn
Share

Related Stories

  • Asia

    Asia

    Time for investors overweight the US to rotate into Asia, says SJP head

    Asia

    Utmost Wealth Solutions appoints head of Asia

  • Asia

    Lighthouse Canton continues expansion drive with strategic partnership

    Asia

    HSBC appoints head for wealth in Singapore


NEWSLETTER

Sign Up for International
Adviser Daily Newsletter

subscribe

  • View site map
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact

Published by Money Map Media – part of G&M Media Ltd Copyright (c) 2024.

International Adviser covers the global intermediary market that uses cross-border insurance, investments, banking and pension products on behalf of their high-net-worth clients. No news, articles or content may be reproduced in part or in full without express permission of International Adviser.