The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has issued RFPs to an undisclosed number of fund management companies to bid for over $1 billion of Asian fixed-income mandates. This comprises the long-awaited Asian Bond Fund 2, an initiative of the region's central banks to stimulate local bond market development.
Mercer Investment Consulting is assisting the HKMA with manager selection and review. Mercer and HKMA officials declined to comment.
The first Asian Bond Fund ABF1 was launched in 2003 to invest central bank foreign reserves in $1 billion of US dollar-denominated securities from Asian issuers, and was managed passively by the Bank of International Settlements.
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