The advent of a shooting war in Ukraine will likely stoke the already alarmingly high inflation level and push oil prices to over US$100 per barrel on the back of a possible supply shortage in Europe.

Robeco has appointed Thu Ha Chow to the newly created role of head of fixed income Asia. Chow is based in the Singapore office, where additional new hires in the fixed-income and sustainability domains will expand the local team to eight investment professionals.

Investment manager Ninety One has appointed Ben Lambert as co-portfolio manager for 4Factor European Equities. The 4Factor team comprises bottom-up, fundamental equity stock pickers who provide regional and global solutions.

Thematic exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products listed globally gathered net inflows of US$2.38 billion in December, bringing net inflows for 2021 to US$80.54 billion, the second highest on record after the US$106.19 billion in 2020, according to ETFGI.

Citi has appointed Li-Gang Liu as Asia-Pacific head of economic analysis for Citi Global Wealth Management (CGWM). Based in Hong Kong, he will report to Steven Wieting, chief investment strategist and chief economist for CGWM, and Roger Bacon, Asia-Pacific head of CGWM APAC ultra-high-net-worth business.

Keppel Capital Holdings has secured US$1.1 billion in total commitments for its Keppel Data Centre Fund II (KDC Fund II), including investment from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), to achieve its final close.

Infini Capital Management, a Hong Kong-headquartered hedge fund, is reopening its Infini Master Fund to external investors. Infini has also appointed Jim Song as a portfolio manager, among several major hires across its offices.

Qontigo, a provider of innovative risk, analytics, and index solutions, has teamed up with RepRisk, a pioneer in environmental, social and governance (ESG) data science. The partnership will enable Qontigo to gain access to RepRisk’s ESG risk data via Axioma portfolio analytics and risk models, and build indices under its STOXX family of brands.

BNY Mellon has completed the onboarding of the fixed-income portfolios of South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the world’s third largest pension fund. In addition to custody solutions the banking group provides for NPS’s fixed-income assets, the expanded remit will deliver a range of services through its securities services platform OMNI, helping transform NPS’s operating model across the front, middle and back office.

Wealth transferred through 2045 will reach US$84.4 trillion – US$72.6 trillion in assets will be transferred to heirs while US$11.9 trillion will be donated to charities, Cerulli Associates projects in a new report.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations are becoming increasingly important for wealthy families in Asia, and they are looking into new technologies to ensure that their investments and business practices generate positive impact on society and the environment.

GLP announces final close of its flagship Japan logistics development strategy GLP Japan Development Partners IV (GLP JDP IV), with 412 billion yen (US$3.7 billion) of total commitments

Singapore-headquartered healthcare investment firm Quadria Capital announced on January 18 the completion of its US$90 million investment in Con Cung, Vietnam’s largest and fastest-growing mom and baby retail network.

Assets invested in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs) in the United States reached a record high of US$7.21 trillion in 2021, up 31.9% from US$5.47 trillion at the end of 2020, ETFGi says. Net inflows also recorded a record high of US$919.78 billion for the year, beating the prior record of US$490.19 billion in 2020.

Vietnamese conglomerate TTC Group, digital financing platform Validus, and investment fund Do Ventures have formed a joint venture to drive financial inclusion and the growth of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam.