Richard Cayne - Fueling The Asia Wealth Group Story

By Author: Fabiola Groshan
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In Asia, the growing distribution network for financial services is within its Financial Planners, Advisors and insurance industry says Richard Cayne of Meyer International Ltd based in Bangkok, Thailand. Of course, there are some challenges for these financial planners looking to diversify away from insurance products only. Some of these challenges would include lack of information, education support from fund companies and third party investment distributors.

Although there are challenges, there is a client driven demand for more investment products than just insurance products. Richard Cayne has been involved in 3rd party fund distribution activities via Meyer Asset Management Ltd which is a wholly owned entity of Asia Wealth Group Holdings listed on London’s PLUS Stock Exchange. Recently, Asia Wealth Group has been looking at making acquisitions within the wealth management space in Asia, as it is within Asia that the room for growth is enormous. The major European private banks know this only too well and have been investing multi millions in expanding into the Asian region. The numbers of new millionaires ...
... is growing at a faster pace than anywhere else in the world. Financial Planners too are looking at what investment products are attractive for their client base, but at the same time are a bit nervous on making such recommendations due to their concern about their experience and information available to them.

One advantage financial planners have, says Richard Cayne, is that they aren’t tied to a bank where most wealth advisers being tied to their bank will only ever offer their own bank’s products and rarely any investment product, which is best in class, but 3rd party externally managed fund. This is mainly because the wealth managers find incentives in the extra fees tied to their bonuses to keep the money in house, where the bank can not only charge a custodial fee for assets within its custodial accounts, but also fund administration fees and in some cases performance fees on top of all this.

In a way if you’re a client and going to a major bank, it’s like going to a Toyota dealer, they will do a needs assessment on you and then whether it’s a big car, small car, medium car or SUV, they will recommend you to buy a Toyota! Simple, but many clients do not make the same association, although they should. Recently more and more clients after the financial crisis have been looking for alternatives to private banks after receiving lackluster investment performance and are noticing they usually get in house fund recommendations only. Richard Cayne of Meyer International has spoken with several financial planners around the Asian region who are looking for good best in class professionally managed funds for their clients. Interestingly enough many Asian clients have a strong interest in alternative funds or hedge funds where in theory they can make money in a rising or falling market and do not have direct correlation with traditional equity markets. This making hedge funds seem a very attractive investment. Richard Cayne and Meyer Asset Management Ltd have relationship with over 150 different fund management firms around the world mainly in the USA and Europe having offshore registered funds where there is no taxation withheld at source making many very attractive for clients who know how to do some tax planning.

Financial Planners have the relationships with the clients and the distribution potential to grow their business in the asset management advisory space with only a few key outperforming best in class financial products, which can be seen by some clients as satellite investment options for some of their money outside of the private banks says Richard Cayne. Many financial planners do have an inferiority complex with private banks but much of this can be overcome with education and some basic know how.

Richard Cayne is also Managing Director at Meyer International Ltd based in Bangkok, Thailand and like Meyer Asset Management Ltd is also part of Asia Wealth group Holdings a PLUS Stock Exchange listed company in London UK.

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