Investments

AXA IM partners with UBS Global Wealth Management to launch one of the first active Metaverse strategies in Hong Kong and Singapore

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with UBS Global Wealth Management (UBS GWM) in Asia Pacific to offer its private wealth clients in Hong Kong and Singapore access to its Metaverse strategy.

The strategy, which UBS GWM’s clients will be the first in Hong Kong and Singapore to access, will provide long-term investors with potential diversification benefits and quality exposure to Metaverse’s rising long-term growth opportunities in a rapidly evolving economy.

 

Commenting on this partnership, Jansen Phee, Managing Director, Head Fund Investment Solutions APAC at UBS Global Wealth Management said, “UBS Global Wealth Management is pleased to be partnering with AXA Investment Managers to provide our clients with quality exposure to this emerging opportunity set. The collaboration underscores UBS’ ability to establish high-calibre partnerships that deliver creative modern solutions to suit clients’ evolving needs and diversify their investment portfolios. Metaverse is a longer term investment theme and investors may look to our Longer Term Investments and thematic lists for investment options.”

 

Incepted in April this year, the strategy aims to invest in companies which play a part in the convergence of the digital and physical world, presenting long-term investment potential from the Metaverse in both developed and emerging markets. The actively managed, multi-cap equity strategy focuses on four key sub themes – gaming, socialising, working and enabling – to provide exposure to long-term trends and allow diversification to suit changing market conditions.

As one of the first active managers to launch a strategy tapping into Metaverse opportunities, AXA IM has a dedicated tech equity specialist team across the world with a strong track record of developing and managing disruptive tech strategies, with the support of Macro Research and Responsible Investment teams. This ESG-integrated strategy currently has a major allocation on Information Technology and Communication Services, and the rest spans across Consumer Discretionary, Real Estate, Healthcare, Industrials, Financials, as of 30 June 2022.

 

Pauline Llandric, AXA IM’s tech equity specialist, commented, “We are at the early stages of a long-term trend which is growing rapidly and believe there is a broad range of global companies and opportunities in this space. Revolutionary, cutting edge advances in technology have changed how we live, socialise, work and do business. The Metaverse is the confluence of the virtual and physical worlds, where more technology is layered on to everyday life associated with the evolution of the internet connecting people, places and things.”

 

Terence Lam, Managing Director and Head of Client Group Core, Asia Pacific at AXA Investment Managers, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with UBS Global Wealth Management to provide this high-quality thematic offering to its private wealth clients. Amid the current market environment, the Metaverse strategy may offer a source of long-term robust investment returns as the world embraces the enormous potential of the Metaverse and experiences the benefits it will bring across sectors. This latest agreement underscores our success and established history in developing long-term and differentiated thematic investment strategies that meet the needs of investors globally.”