The latest moves in wealth management across Asia-Pacific.

H2O Asset Management
H2O Asset Management - an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers  - is opening its first Asia office in Singapore and is launching a wholly-owned subsidiary, H2O Asset Management Asia Pte.

The office will be the firm’s “investment hub” in Asia, the firm said. As part of the move, Philip Chow will become chief executive of the subsidiary and report to Vincent Chailley for investment purposes and lead the Singapore office.

SPECTRUM
Singapore-based technology and innovation club SPECTRUM has named an international chief executive, Chris McPherson, to drive local and wider growth.
McPherson has held senior roles in Asia including positions at Condeco, Intel, Raritan Asia Pacific, and LenovoEMC (previously Iomega).

Launched in January this year, SPECTRUM’s members are formed from a variety of groups including government-level agencies.

Financial and other backers include serial entrepreneur Taizo Son and his company Mistletoe, Golden Equator Capital, Aviva Ventures, and MC Payment; blockchain investors and consultant community include Jenga Solutions, Jenga K, and Astronaut Capital, while there are blockchain-based firms in the network such as SpaceChain, TruView, and Foresting HQ.

“We work with government agencies in Southeast Asia and North Asia who are helping their companies expand broader into the region by setting up regional hubs within SPECTRUM. These agencies have also expressed interest in having SPECTRUM in their markets, so we are currently in talks with Korea, then Brunei and Japan,” Shirley Crystal Chua, founder and group CEO of Golden Equator Group which founded SPECTRUM, said.

McPherson added: “In the short-term, we will continue to grow our non-resident memberships and partnerships with other innovation communities and spaces globally to create further value-add for our members, and in the medium term, we will also look at establishing another SPECTRUM in Singapore and in other markets where it makes sense.”