About us
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To enhance Singapore’s value proposition as an asset management and funds domiciliation hub, MAS is partnering with industry stakeholders within the funds ecosystem to establish the Singapore Funds Industry Group (“SFIG”).
SFIG brings together all the key players across the entire asset management value chain, including not just fund managers but also service providers such as lawyers, tax advisors, fund administrators and directors. SFIG will identify emerging industry trends and formulate strategies to develop the asset management ecosystem.
SFIG has been established with the following objectives:
- Lead the development and sustainable growth of Singapore’s asset management industry;
- Enhance the value proposition of the Singapore asset management industry by identifying industry trends, new market opportunities and recommending appropriate standards, developmental initiatives and innovative solutions for use in the industry;
- Formulate and review proposals that industry and policy makers can adopt, and implement proposed recommendations;
- Serve as an effective channel of communication between the asset management industry and the MAS and other government stakeholders;
- Build capacity and capabilities to support the growth of Singapore’s asset management industry; and
- Promote Singapore as a full-service international fund domicile hub.
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Source: World Justice Project Rule, World Bank, Global Innovation Index 2019, Network Readiness Index 2019
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is Singapore’s central bank and integrated financial regulator. MAS also works with the financial industry to develop Singapore as a dynamic international financial centre
- Asian pioneer in sandbox, Fintech and other regulatory measures to support the industry
- One of the world’s most business-friendly regulatory environment for entrepreneurs
- No foreign exchange control, removes the need to hedge currency for regulatory purposes
- Political and economic stability
- Thriving local VC scene; Asian PE’s and Asian Real Estate Fund’s locale of choice
- Focus on innovation, capital-intensive activities and a globalised workforce
- Very robust and well-coordinated inter government agency policies and procedures
- Asia’s only AAA credit rating from all 3 agencies - Singapore was given a top AAA credit rating from S&P, Fitch and Moody’s
- Well positioned to serve rapid growth of Asian finance – infrastructure funding, structured trade finance and wealth management
- Singapore’s strategic location at the heart of South East Asia provides a gateway for managers to domicile their APAC and ASEAN-focused funds here
- Well established financial services ecosystem supporting the asset management and funds industry
- Global aviation and shipping hub serving as a gateway to ASEAN, Oceania, Indo-Pacific and China
- MAS offers tax incentives for financial institutions setting up or expanding in Singapore
- Extensive DTA network - the most extensive network of free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia
- Significant government incentives drawing entrepreneurs from around the region and around the world
- OECD & full FATF member
- Highly skilled and cosmopolitan workforce
- Vast array of training and scholarship programmes such as SkillsFuture, TechSkills Accelerator to help people upgrade their skills or learn new ones offered by the government in tandem with industry partners and educational establishments
- Attractiveness of Singapore to foreign talent as a place of choice for work and Lifestyle
- Rigorous corporate governance framework and adherence to international accounting standards
- Signed 44 bilateral investment treaties, designed to help protect investments made by Singapore-based companies in other countries against non-commercial risks
- Strong rule of law, and robust intellectual property (IP) regime - currently rated the best place in Asia and 2nd in the world
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Over the years, different industry associations and various stakeholders in the funds industry in Singapore have worked closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to develop the ecosystem. The formation of SFIG will strengthen this public-private collaboration for the asset management industry to come together to drive cross-sectoral initiatives and provide opportunities to allow:
- - Collaboration across industry sub-sectors towards common developmental goals
- - Cross fertilisation of ideas across funds value chain and workstreams
- - Bottom-up initiatives and co-ownership of project outcomes with industry
- - Scalability of industry-wide projects & stakeholders buy-in
MAS
https://www.mas.gov.sg/The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is the central bank of Singapore and integrated financial regulator. MAS also works with the financial industry to develop Singapore as a dynamic international financial centre. Their mission is to promote sustained non-inflationary economic growth, and a sound and progressive financial centre.
The industry associations represented in the Singapore Funds Industry Group include:
AIMA
https://www.aima.org/The Alternative Investment Management Association (“AIMA”) represents the global alternative investment industry. 2,000 corporate members are spread across 60+ countries with $2 trillion+ hedge fund and/or private credit assets of manager members. Founded in 1990, with the Singapore Chapter being established in 2006, its core objective is to provide leadership to the alternative investment industry and to be its pre-eminent voice globally.
IMAS
http://www.imas.org.sg/The Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS) was formed in 1997 and is a representative body of investment managers spearheading the development of the industry in Singapore. Its mission is to spearhead the development of the industry in Singapore by fostering high standards of professionalism amongst practitioners and creating public awareness of, and interest in the industry.
SVCA
https://www.svca.org.sg/The Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA) was formed in 1992 to promote the development of the venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) industry. Its mission is to foster greater understanding of the importance of venture capital and private equity to the economy in support of entrepreneurship, innovation, and growth, and to represent the interests of ther members in the broader VC and PE community.
SFAA
https://sfaa.com.sg/Founded in 2007, the Singapore Fund Administrators Association (SFAA) was established with the mission of driving the growth and standard of fund administration in support of Singapore's development as a global asset management hub. The SFAA serves as a central platform for fund administrators to discuss and push forward industry issues as a collective voice.
SFDA
https://www.sfda.com.sg/Established in 2020, the Singapore Fund Directors Association (SFDA) was formed with the mission to be Singapore's premier body representing fund directors to foster long-term success through advocacy and standards-setting in corporate governance, and professional development for fund directors.
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Co-Chairs
Assistant Managing Director, Development and International Group, Chief Sustainability Officer, MAS
Gillian Tan
Managing Partner, Head of Funds and Investment Group, Clifford Chance Singapore
Kai-Niklas Schneider
Gillian Tan is the Assistant Managing Director of the Development and International Group, overseeing MAS’ strategies to develop Singapore as an international financial centre as well as MAS’ international relations and engagements. Prior to this appointment, Ms Tan was Executive Director of the Financial Markets Development Department, which aims to promote a vibrant financial market in Singapore, with a focus on developing the capital market, asset management and insurance sectors as well as green finance capabilities and solutions. From 2016-2019, she served as Executive Director of the Enforcement Department, which is responsible for investigating and enforcing breaches under the laws administered by MAS, including anti-money laundering regulations and market misconduct offences.
Kai-Niklas Schneider is the Managing Partner of the Clifford Chance Singapore office and head of the Funds and Investment Management group in Singapore. He is a US qualified lawyer with over 20 years of specialist experience in the funds sector and advises clients on the formation of and investment in a wide variety of private equity funds, real estate funds, infrastructure funds and credit funds. Kai is the Chair of the Singapore Academy of Law’s Promotion of Singapore Law Committee (Funds Sub-Committee) and a member of the Advocacy Subcommittee of the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA) and the Singapore Executive Committee of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA).
Members
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Chairman, Alternative Investment Management Association Singapore
Ross Crawford
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Chairman, Investment Management Association of Singapore
Susan Soh
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Chairman, Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association
Sanjay Gujral
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Chairman, Singapore Fund Administrators Association
Ashmita Chhabra
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Chairman, Singapore Fund Directors Association
Martin O’Regan
Ross is currently General Counsel Asia for Millennium Management, advising on Millennium’s trading, operations and activities in the Asia Pacific region. He has over 20 years’ experience advising in the financial services industry. He has specific expertise and experience in advising on derivatives and capital markets, complex regulatory investigations, corporate restructuring and litigation. Prior to joining Millennium Ross was the General Counsel Asia Pacific for RBS plc and was a board Director of several of RBS’s banking subsidiaries in the region.
Susan Soh is Co-Head of Asia Pacific and CEO Singapore for Schroders, with almost 30 years of financial industry experience, spanning across different areas of investment banking before specialising in asset management. She has been instrumental in driving Schroders’ success with central banks, national pensions and national institutions in Southeast Asia. In the retail mutual fund distribution industry, she led Schroders to become one of the market leaders in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Currently serving as a Member of the Singapore Green Finance Centre’s Advisory Board, the Chair of the Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS), and Council Member of Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) since April 2019, Susan holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from National University of Singapore.
Sanjay Gujral is Chief Business Officer at the Everstone Group, that operates across private equity, real estate, green infrastructure, private credit and venture capital. Prior to re-joining Everstone in 2018, Sanjay was Regional Managing Director at L Catterton Asia. He started his investing career with Everstone in 2006, prior to moving to L Capital in 2011. Previously, Sanjay spent 11 years in corporate finance advisory with Andersen, EY and Ambit. He received his post-graduate diploma in management from IIM Bangalore and is a commerce graduate from SRCC, Delhi University. Sanjay has been a Board member at SVCA since 2015, and served as Hon. Treasurer from 2019-21, prior to being elected Chairman in April 2021.
Ashmita has two decades of experience working with global asset owners and managers in the APAC region. She spent a decade supporting asset managers on their fund set-ups, service provider selection, supported due diligence processes and looked at strengthening the operational infrastructure and their outsourcing models. She was responsible for business development, client relationship management and expansion strategy at a global financial services provider. Prior to that, she spent a decade building the alternatives research business of a global research house. She has dedicated her career towards enhancement of Singapore’s funds ecosystem in various capacities. She is the Chair of the Singapore Fund Administrators Association and also Co-Chair of the Promotion and Advocacy Working Group of Singapore Funds Industry Group.
Martin O’Regan is managing director of Solas Fiduciary Services, providing truly independent directorship service, based in, and privately owned in Asia. With over 20 years of experience in investments funds and other alternative investment vehicles, Martin has held senior roles for Deutsche, Citi, Apex and UBS at Bermuda, Dubai, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Martin is licensed as a director with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). He is also Chairman of the Singapore Fund Directors Association (SFDA).
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Partner, APAC Asset and Wealth Management Leader, PwC Singapore
Justin Ong
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Partner, Financial Services Tax Leader, APAC, Ernst & Young
Amy Ang
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Co-head, Funds and Investment Management Group, Rajah & Tann
Arnold Tan
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Founder and CEO, Gordian Capital Singapore
Mark Voumard
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Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner, Dymon Asia
Danny Yong
Justin is the PwC Asset & Wealth Management (AWM) Leader for Asia-Pacific and has more than 29 years of experience working with asset managers in Singapore, London and Continental Europe, including two years in Luxembourg advising Asian asset managers on market entry and fund distribution in Europe as well as European managers and asset servicers around opportunities in Asia. He has a Bachelor of Economics degree from Monash University, Australia and holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMRO Full Version) issued by the Institute of Investment Management and Research (UK). He is a Chartered Accountant of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) of the Australian Society of Institute of Certified Practising Accountants.
Amy Ang is a tax partner based in Singapore, leading the EY Financial Services Tax Practice across Asia Pacific. In this role, she leads the delivery of EY tax services to clients in the financial services industry across Asia Pacific. Amy has more than 20 years of experience as a tax advisor, specialising in the Asset Management, Banking and Capital Markets, and Insurance. She works closely with clients, industry players and authorities, and regularly speaks to media and with industry bodies. She is known to provide pragmatic tax advice with a commercial lens and is actively consulted on tax changes impacting the Asia Pacific region and specifically on the impact on funds and financial institutions.
Arnold joined Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP as a partner in 1999. His primary focus is in investment funds and related regulations. He co-leads the Funds & Investment Management Practice Group that provides advice on fund management and investment advisory services, and generally on the establishment of both onshore and offshore investment funds. Arnold has been named as a leading lawyer for private funds and regulatory matters by Who’s Who Legal, Chambers Asia Pacific and Euromoney's Guide to the World’s Leading Investment Funds Lawyers. His team represents a broad cross section of investment managers in Singapore across various asset classes, as well as wealth management departments of banks, fund administrators, investment fund distributors, trustees and custodians.
With four decades of experience based in Asia, Mark is founder and CEO of Gordian Capital Singapore (est. 2005), Asia’s leading independent alternatives institutional platform and fund structuring specialist (AUM US$10bn) where he has structured and launched over 100 funds (hedge, private equity, venture capital, real estate, and private credit). Mark is registered with the MAS as a Registered Representative, ASIC and the US SEC, is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and the International Bar Association (IBA). He represents Gordian Capital as a member of AIMA, SVCA, IMAS and AVPN. Holding both Australian and Swiss citizenship, he studied Economics and Japanese at Monash University and is a fluent Japanese speaker.
Danny Yong is the CEO and CIO of Dymon Asia Capital. He is CIO of the firm’s flagship Multi-Strategy Investment Fund (MSIF). Before founding Dymon Asia in 2008, Danny was a founding partner and CIO of Abax Global Capital, a hedge fund based in Hong Kong. Previously a Managing Director at Citadel Investment Asia, Danny established and ran the Asia Macro trading business from 2005 to 2007. Prior to Citadel, he was Head of Trading for South East Asian FX and Derivatives at Goldman Sachs, where he spent almost six years in its Hong Kong and Tokyo offices. Danny started his trading career at JP Morgan in 1997. He is Chairman of The Majurity Trust, a philanthropic organization in Singapore.
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Promotion & Advocacy Working Group
Objectives
- Promote and advocate to raise awareness of the value of Singapore as both a global asset management center and as a global fund domiciliation hub by building and operating a website that offers all relevant information to asset owners, managers and service providers, both those established in Singapore and those planning to establish a presence.
- Effective dissemination of relevant documentation from within the Singapore Funds Industry Group (“SFIG”) and its membership, externally to academic, governmental or other bodies as well as asset owners and market participants capable of influencing the continued viability of Singapore.
- Multi-year marketing, media plan and initiatives to advocate for SFIG globally, and work towards influencing decision makers as well as those considering Singapore as an option.
Co-Chairs
Mark Voumard
Ashmita Chhabra
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Infrastructure & Innovation Working Group
Objectives
- Explore new innovative trends and consider industry-wide gaps relating to business processes and protocols.
- Propose industry-wide utility solutions to enhance operational productivity and efficiency through building digital gateways and platforms accessible to market participants and stakeholders.
- Criteria of development ideas include having cross sector impact, be digital-led, forward looking and creates opportunities for the development of new skills and deepening the talent workforce in Singapore.
Co-Chairs
Justin Ong
Ross Crawford
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Capabilities & Training Working Group
Objectives
- Initiatives to build industry capabilities and knowledge supporting the growth and development of Singapore’s asset management industry and fund ecosystem.
- Identify and address capabilities gaps by introducing new and relevant training for asset management professionals, with an initial focus on ESG/green funds.
- Competency development and training for funds professionals in Singapore.
Co-Chairs
Susan Soh
Martin O’Regan
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Policy Working Group
Objectives
- Assist in formulation of pragmatic policies to promote growth of the funds industry, principally focusing on regulatory & tax aspects to complement initiatives critical to the continued expansion of the Singapore fund industry.
- Work with industry to provide feedback on enhancements to current policy with regular reviews of the Singapore funds regime to ensure it remains relevant and progressive.
- Provide industry viewpoints on new legislation and initiatives in order to enhance their relevance and effectiveness.
Co-Chairs
Arnold Tan
Amy Ang