Janice Wu joined Legal & General Investment Management in Hong Kong as head of Asia-Pacific sales and distribution, confirmed Alan Flynn, LGIM's head of Asia-Pacific.
The position is new at LGIM, which announced the official opening of its Hong Kong office Thursday to mark the launch of its business in the Asia-Pacific region.
In a telephone interview, Mr. Flynn called Ms. Wu “a great addition” whose familiarity with the region's sovereign wealth funds and national pension funds will facilitate LGIM's efforts to serve those big institutional investors as they continue to diversify their portfolios and allocate more money overseas.
Ms. Wu comes to Legal & General from State Street Global Advisors in Singapore, where she served as a managing director, head of SSgA's Singapore office and head of relationship management, Asia ex-Japan.
An SSgA spokesman in Singapore said with Ms. Wu's departure, Hon Cheung, regional director, Asia, official institutions group, will resume the role of head of SSgA's Singapore office, which he held previously. Meanwhile, a Sydney-based spokesman said Ms. Wu's relationship management role won't be filled; the relationship managers who previously reported to her now will report directly to Ting Li, SSgA's head of Asia ex-Japan.
Mr. Flynn said Legal & General's index strategies, which account for roughly 60% of its more than $670 billion in assets under management, and its active fixed-income capabilities, which account for a quarter of the total, will be a focus of the firm's efforts in Asia as institutional investors in the region continue to review their portfolio allocations.
For now, Legal & General will be reaching out to those top-tier institutional investors, but the type of decisions those investors are making now in terms of restructuring their fixed-income allocations and investing more overseas should eventually extend to a broader range of clients, such as insurance companies and smaller government-linked funds, he said.
Mr. Flynn said Legal & General is making a long-term commitment to Asia, which could eventually include a manufacturing presence in the region as well.
According to data tracker eVestment, more than 95% of the firm's assets come from institutional clients.
