Brown Brother Harriman to offer ETF trustee services in Hong Kong

May 20th, 2016 | By | Category: ETF and Index News

Global financial services firm Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) has launched a trust company in Hong Kong, providing trustee services to global asset managers looking to establish Hong Kong-domiciled investment products such as exchange-traded funds.

Brown Brother Harriman to offer ETF trust services in Hong Kong

Gabriel Cheung has been appointed to lead the Hong Kong Trustee business.

The move follows the 2015 launch of China’s Mutual Recognition of Funds (MRF), a cross-border initiative that opens a new channel for mutual fund investment into and out of Mainland China.

“Since the launch of MRF, global fund sponsors have the potential to reach investors in Mainland China through Hong Kong-domiciled funds,” Scott McLaren, Head of BBH Hong Kong said in a statement.  “From a provider perspective, this is a big change. As Hong Kong-domiciled funds evolve from a domestic focus to a cross-border character, globally-active fund managers in particular will require new capability sets and consistent and coordinated practices across fund domiciles.  As a cross-border specialist, BBH is well placed to deliver a high quality value proposition to the Hong Kong market.”

Gabriel Cheung, previously Senior Manager of Trustee and Fiduciary Services at HSBC Institutional Trust Services, was appointed to lead the Hong Kong Trustee business.

“MRF presents an enticing opportunity for global asset managers and investors,” said Cheung, “but the provision of strong trustee services that deploy continuous risk-based oversight and asset monitoring is critical to its success, as well as Hong Kong’s success as an international asset management centre.  With a proven track record in leading cross-border fund jurisdictions, BBH’s expertise will enable our clients in all regions to take advantage of this exciting opportunity.”

Hong Kong may become increasingly attractive to global asset managers as a venue for domiciling ETFs due to their potential inclusion in Stock Connect, a cross-border initiative launched in 2014 that links the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges. The program would boost liquidity in the funds by making them available to Chinese investors.

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