SINGAPORE - Despite a challenging year for global financial markets in 2018, Singapore's assets under management increased further by 5.4 per cent to $3.44 trillion, according to an annual poll by the Monetary Authority of Singapore .
MAS conducts an annual study of the Singapore asset management industry, surveying financial institutions including banks, finance and treasury centres, capital markets services licensees including real estate investment trust managers, financial advisers, and insurance firms. It excludes direct investments by government-related entities. More than 800 respondents participated in the latest survey.
Inflows were strong in traditional sector strategies managed or advised out of Singapore, but these were more than offset by weaker valuations across major asset markets in tandem with global trends. As a result, traditional AUM was sluggish and shrank 7 per cent in 2018.