Prudential Enters Thailand's Mutual Fund Market

Prudential Enters Thailand's Mutual Fund Market

Prudential's asset management business Eastspring Investments has acquired a stake in a leading asset management company in Thailand. What is the intention of this deal?

Eastspring Investments, the Asian asset management business of British insurer Prudential, has bought 65 percent of TMB Asset Management (TMBAM), an asset management company in Thailand. Eastspring has an option to increase its ownership to 100 percent in the future, according to a media release sent on Thursday. As part of this acquisition, Eastspring has also entered into a distribution agreement with TMB to provide best-in-class investment solutions to their customers.

The acquisition of TMBAM, the fifth-largest asset manager in Thailand, with 10 billion British pounds of assets under management, reinforces Prudential’s commitment to the Thai market. It also complements the company’s fast growing life insurance business.

In Thailand for More Than 20 Years

And it provides Eastspring with a unique opportunity to establish a significant third party presence in the largest and fastest growing mutual fund market in the Asean region, the buyer said. The completion of the transaction is subject to local regulatory approval.

By partnering with TMB, Thailand’s seventh largest bank by assets, with an extensive footprint of over 400 branches and six million customers, Eastspring will further enhance TMBAM’s strong track record of asset growth. Prudential has operated in Thailand for more than 20 years through Prudential Life Assurance. At the end of 2017, Prudential served over 1.5 million customers in Thailand and managed more than 90 billion Thai baht of assets on their behalf.

Present in 11 Asian Markets

Eastspring is Asia’s leading retail asset manager with 139 billion pounds of assets under management and has been operating in Asia for almost 25 years. This acquisition expands Eastspring’s presence to 11 markets in Asia.