Winners rationale

Looking to tackle late-cycle headwinds, Asia’s private banking industry has sought refuge in multi-asset strategies — a trend that has played into the hands of J.P. Morgan Asset Management whose prowess in the space is a well-established fact.

And the asset manager has not limited itself to diversifying in the traditional sense across asset classes by also stressing the importance of further diversifying through, for example, style tilts or combining income-focused and total returns-focused strategies.

To be sure, J.P. Morgan Asset Management leads the multi-asset space partly on account of the success of its flagship product, the JPMorgan Investment Funds – Global Income Fund (GIF), which delivers a highly diversified and sustainable income portfolio that remains mindful of market fluctuations. Over the past year, the fund has grown 17%, totalling US$29.9 billion as at end-September 2018.

Another standout product, the JPMorgan Investment Funds – Global Macro Opportunities Fund, designed to act as a portfolio diversifier, also gained traction among the region’s wealthy over the past year, growing by 22% to US$6.2 billion as at end-Q3.

The fund’s unconstrained remit enables it to tap into non-traditional asset classes, providing a complementary return stream with a historical negative correlation to traditional equities and fixed income.

A long and sound track record of multi-asset strategies with solid inflows, backed by a dedicated marketing and distribution team, motivated the region’s private banks to select J.P. Morgan Asset Management as this year’s Best Fund Provider – Multi-asset Solution.