Singapore’s central bank has selected five international asset managers to handle S$1.45 billion (US$1.3 billion) in locally focused equity strategies, making its latest effort to revive the city state’s stock market amid sharpening rivalry with regional financial hub Hong Kong.
Amundi, Franklin Templeton, HSBC Asset Management, M&G Investments and Natixis Investment Managers were named on Tuesday as part of the third batch of mandates awarded under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Equity Market Development Programme.
The programme, launched with S$5 billion in February 2025 and enlarged to S$6.5 billion this February, aims to crowd in private capital alongside public funds to boost liquidity and broaden trading activity beyond Singapore’s largest blue-chip stocks, authorities said.
Alongside the manager appointments, MAS committed an additional S$20 million to a grant scheme designed to support market-making activities for roughly 80 small and mid-cap companies through the end of 2028.