Phillip Capital Management hires first ESG Head to Initiate ESG Strategies in Singapore with King & Shaxson Asset Management

For immediate release

  • Phillip Capital Management hires its first Head of ESG Strategy
  • In the newly appointed role, Mr. Stephen Beng will spearhead ESG integration at both the Group and firm level
  • Along with King & Shaxson Asset Management (UK Office), Phillip Capital Management (Singapore) will begin offering ESG Strategies into its future product roadmap

Singapore, 23 April 2021 –  A member of PhillipCapital Group, Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd has appointed Mr. Stephen Beng Sui-Leung as its first Head of ESG Strategy.

As the Head of ESG Strategy, Mr. Beng will be responsible for deploying the framework towards the Group’s ESG commitments, as well as within the investment portfolios managed by the firm. 

In parallel to his current position, Mr. Beng also serves as the Chairman for the Friends of Marine Park Community, a platform for multi-sectoral stakeholders to contribute towards national sustainability commitments through research, conservation and education.

Commenting on his new role, Mr. Beng said: “I am pleased to continue my stewardship of the environment and service to the people and communities around me through Phillip Capital Management. I firmly believe that Capital Markets can drive the big industrial changes necessary for us to meet conservation, climate and social goals. I’m also confident that through judicious processes and earnest partnerships, we will continue to see positive investment performance attached with purposeful rewards. Beyond this, we plan to be an active contributor to longer term solutions so that we can live responsibly with each other and within the resource limits of our planet.” 

Prior to this appointment, Mr Beng has championed nature conservation, environmental sustainability and social justice in leadership roles within business, industry, military and civil society over the past 20 years. Mr. Beng has previously held regional senior management roles in several financial services firms and is an experienced relationship manager, product developer and communicator. He also brings with him proven abilities in change management, adaptive leadership and strategic planning.

In 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit home, investors became more aware that ecological imbalances can cause repercussions to the economy. The crisis also coincided with increasing momentum of trading activities in ESG-related funds. Across the Group, the overall trading value in ESG ETFs increased over 100% as of mid-April 2021 compared to the whole of 2020, while AUM of ESG funds crossed $500 million. 

Commenting on the future roadmap, CEO at Phillip Capital Management Mr. Linus Lim said: “As stewards of capital, our primary responsibility is to meet the changing needs of our investors. In respect to ESG, there are still a lot of nuances in this part of the world compared to the Western hemisphere. At this nascent stage, more investor education opportunities need to be created to fill the gaps. Industry-wise, the changing landscape also calls for greater degree of ESG standardisation and benchmarking.

In our local offerings, only Phillip Global Quality Fund has ESG considerations, and it would not be considered ESG-centred. Unbeknownst to Singaporeans, our UK Office – King and Shaxson Asset Management – has been managing ethical portfolios since 2002, with a running AUM of about GBP160 million. We will be leveraging our expertise from our UK counterpart to build deeper integration of ESG considerations in our product offerings in Singapore, as well as this part of the world going forward.”

In the first phase, Phillip Capital Management will be wrapping the ethical portfolios from the UK office and bring the offerings to Singapore’s accredited investors. The portfolios are categorised ‘Cautious, Light Green, Mid Green and Dark Green’ to cater to the different profiles and appetite. As of end-March 2021, performance of the portfolios ranged from 31.4% to 57.6% over the past 5 years. 

– End of Press Release –

About PhillipCapital

A member of PhillipCapital, Phillip Securities Pte Ltd offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services includes broking in securities, futures, foreign exchange, bonds, precious metals and commodities, unit trusts, contracts for difference, exchange traded funds; fund management, managed accounts, insurance planning, regular savings plan, investment research, equity financing and property consultancy. Institutions can also benefit from our corporate finance and advisory services as well as information technology solutions.

Since our inception as a stockbroker in 1975, PhillipCapital has grown into an integrated Asian financial house with a global presence that offers a full range of quality and innovative services to retail and high net worth individuals, family offices, as well as corporate and institutional customers.  

Today, PhillipCapital headquartered in Singapore, operates in the financial hubs of 15 countries, including offices in Australia, Cambodia, China (and Hong Kong SAR), France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, UK, UAE, USA and Vietnam, serving over 1 Million clients with Assets Under Management of total more than USD 35 Billion.  

Find out more about us here https://www.phillip.com.sg/ and our award-winning trading platforms here https://www.poems.com.sg/.

Issued on behalf of Phillip Securities by Marketing Communications Department.

Media Contacts:

Karyn Low
Marketing Communications
+65 9852 1728 | karynlowpl@phillip.com.sg

Jed Teo
Marketing Communications
+65 9128 3709 | jedteows@phillip.com.sg