The latest news about investment offerings, new financial products and services in the Asia-Pacific region.

Manulife, ClearView Wealth
Manulife Investment Management and Australia-based ClearView Wealth Limited have agreed to collaborate on building investment solutions for the Australian market.

The partnership aims to deliver wealth management and retirement income solutions to retail investors, the firms said.

The partnership will combine ClearView’s local product development and distribution capabilities with Manulife Investment Management’s global expertise across public and private asset classes.

The market potential is high. As at 30 June 2021, Australia’s managed funds industry had A$4.31 trillion ($4.31 trillion) in assets under management.

Canada-based Manulife IM oversees $835 billion of client money,  

Established in 2010, ClearView is an ASX-listed financial services company focused on life insurance and wealth management. As at 30 June 2021, the group had A$289.7 million of annual in-force life insurance premiums and A$3.02 billion of funds under management.

(Note: ClearView is in no way related to ClearView Financial Media, publisher of this news service.)

United Overseas Bank
UOB Asset Management, part of United Overseas Bank, has listed an exchange-traded fund tapping into Asian “green” real estate investments. 

The full name of the fund is UOB Asia Pacific Green Real Estate Investment Trust Exchange-Traded Fund. UOB said that it is “the world’s first such ETF that aims to enable individuals to invest in quality green REITs [real estate investment trusts] across Asia-Pacific with dividend yields”. 

The ETF drew in more than S$80 million ($58.6 million) in assets during the initial offering period, which closed on 18 November. The ETFaims to replicate, as closely as possible, the performance of the recently-launched iEdge-UOB APAC Yield Focus Green REIT Index, which UOBAM created in partnership with Singapore Exchange and GRESB. The index tracks 50 higher-yielding REITs across APAC which display relatively better environmental performance while meeting liquidity requirements.

Explaining the reason for the ETF launch, UOB said that projected demand for office space across Asia-Pacific is expected to grow by 65 per cent from the occupancy rate in 2020 to 1.35 billion square feet by 2030 as a result of a growing workforce. More occupiers are indicating that green office design is a top three consideration, with seven in 10 even willing to pay a higher rental for green-certified spaces.