Asian players jostling for global investment space

Asian private institutions are competing with other private capital firms for investment space globally as the region’s high net worth individuals and rising middle class continue to fuel the need for expansion, according to RBC Investor & Treasury Services managing director for Asia, Andrew Gordon. He stressed that Asian insurance companies, pension funds and banks, from Japan to Singapore, are making their presence felt around the world as they acquire debt, real estate, and infrastructure projects. Gordon, however, stressed that the frenetic asset-buying pace could imperil returns in the future. In a competitive market, the window for due diligence narrows, which could have an impact on returns, he said,. The hunt for yield by Asian private entities heightens risk if the investors need to raise cash—and the assets prove difficult to unload, Gordon added.