Manulife Asset Management has appointed Sarah Lu to the newly-created role of head of asset allocation in Asia. Based in Hong Kong Lu oversees the development and investment management of asset allocation solutions for investors across the region.
Lu joins Manulife from Axa Rosenberg Investment Management Asia Pacific where she spent more than 12 years managing multi-asset portfolios. Most recently she was head of that firm’s tactical asset allocation.
Her appointment represents an expansion of Manulife Asset Management’s Portfolio Solutions Group into Asia. She will develop investment solutions to help Asian investors “meet an ever-widening range of income and total return needs, through strategic and tactical asset allocation,” the company says.
Manulife sees a massive opportunity in Asia. Many of the countries in the region have strong savings cultures, but that is expected to change. Like the rest of the world, Asia’s populations are aging, a trend that will result in a declining savings rate and a need for income generating investments.
“By 2050, Asia is expected to be the most aged region in the world, surpassing Europe and the U.S. in the amount of pensioners it needs to support financially,” says Michael Dommermuth, president of Asia at Manulife Asset Management.
“What is most surprising is that, far from being confined to recognized greying nations such as Japan and China, we believe that the problem is destined to become truly pan-regional, even touching countries traditionally considered to be young, such as Indonesia.”