Advocacy Talking Points 24 April 2020
Sales Inducements in Asia Pacific
Webinar
A review of regulation and industry practices around sales and distribution of mutual funds in Australia, Hong Kong SAR, India and Singapore, with a focus on sales commissions, fees and their effect on mis-selling. Based on a report by CFA Institute.
Webinar Presentation: Sales Inducements in Asia Pacific
Download PDFOverview
The sale and distribution of mutual funds and other investment products have undergone significant changes since the global financial crisis. Mis-selling scandals, profit pressures, regulatory scrutiny, technological disruptions, and growth of high net worth clients are some of the factors that have contributed to changes in business models and strategic directions. Recently, CFA Institute published a report “Sales Inducements in Asia Pacific: A review of the sales and distribution of mutual funds in selected Asia Pacific markets”. The report contains a review on regulatory and industry practices around fees and commissions, duty of care, investor protection, focusing on four Asia Pacific markets: Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and India. This webinar draws on the report to provide a global overview, and to showcase how markets are grappling with common issues, such as:
- Fees versus commissions: is a ban on sales commissions the silver bullet?
- Duty of care: best interest versus suitability – what is the difference?
- Transparency and disclosure: what clients do not know will not hurt them;
- Fund distribution channels: the more the merrier;
- Investor education: when do you regulate and when do you educate?
Watch the Webinar
Duration: 54 min.
Recorded: 24 April 2020.
(Due to a technical issue, the first few minutes of the webinar are missing from the recording. We apologize for the omission.)
Presenters
Mary Leung, CFA, is the head, standards and advocacy, Asia Pacific, at CFA Institute. She is responsible for the development, maintenance, and promotion of capital markets policy perspectives in the APAC region. She also oversees the promotion and development of CFA Institute professional standards in the region. Mary has over 20 years of experience in the global financial industry, having worked in corporate finance, wealth management advisory, and fund management. Previously, she was with Coutts & Co, where she was director of Business Development and Management for North Asia. Prior to that she was executive director at UBS AG, where she led the Corporate Advisory Group in Hong Kong. With experience in both the buy- and sell-sides, Mary has a strong understanding of the drivers and dynamics of different investor groups, including institutional investors, corporates, family offices, asset owners, and high-net-worth individuals. Mary graduated from Peterhouse, Cambridge with a degree in Engineering. She is a CFA charterholder and speaks English, Putonghua, and Cantonese.
Sara Cheng, JD, is Senior Director of Capital Markets Policy and Strategy, Asia Pacific at CFA Institute. She is responsible for advocating policy development in Asia Pacific, writing research centered on capital markets and financial regulation and engaging with financial regulators and standard-setting bodies on policy advocacy. Sara’s work experience spans close to 20 years in the finance industry having worked in investment banking, legal, compliance and securities regulation. Before CFA Institute, she worked in the CEO office of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission from 2012 to 2017. Before becoming a regulator, she worked at Goldman Sachs in New York, Mumbai and Hong Kong where she held a range of diverse compliance roles in asset management, investment banking and investment research from 2004 to 2011. At Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, she was Head of Research Compliance for Asia with oversight across key markets, including Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan and India. Sara also previously worked as a US corporate lawyer and holds licenses in the states of New York and New Jersey. She is a strong supporter for diversity and mentoring. While at the Securities and Futures Commission, she founded and chaired the Women’s Network for which she received the 2015 Employee Award for outstanding contribution to the Commission. She is also a mentor to many young professionals.