Kames Capital is to looking to build upon its recent successes with a push into the Asian investment market for the first time.
The move comes as Kames Capital announces the opening of an office in Hong Kong and the appointment of James Cooper as its head of business development for Asia.
Initially Kames Capital will look at developing interest among Asian investors with its strong and successful franchise in fixed income and in property.
Kames Capital has had a number of successes in recent years, including winning a number of awards for its fund management capabilities, particularly in the field of fixed income, which this year saw it win Lipper Awards in the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands for its high yield bond fund expertise. It has a growing business in Europe particularly in Switzerland and also recently rebranded to become Kames Capital from AEGON Asset Management UK in September 2011.
Cooper joins Kames Capital from Liminal Image, which provides consulting services to the financial services industry. Prior to this he was country head & investment director for Australia at Standard Life Investments, having previously been investment director for Hong Kong.
Reporting to Kames Capital's head of distribution Martin Harris, Cooper will be responsible for developing the business across the Asian market.
Harris says: ‘In the medium term we want to have some of our investment people based in Asia, this will help our management of both insurance company assets and third party assets. We also recognise that Asian based investors want their money to be managed in the region if at all possible. As such we hope to be able to offer Asian funds to Asian investors managed and run by Kames Capital in Asia.'
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