The Chinese property sector, which makes up around a quarter of the country’s economy, has been a particular drag on returns over the last year. In January, one of the sector’s leading players, China Evergrande, entered into a forced liquidation.

This was seen in the month’s worst performing individual funds, with the £14.1m Redwheel China Equity, £203.3m Baillie Gifford China, and £5.8m JPM China all among the bottom 10 for returns. Climate strategies, such as Baillie Gifford Climate Optimism and Active Solar also struggled in January.

In contrast, IA North America and Technology were the two best-performing sectors, up 3% and 4.8% respectively.

Ben Yearsley, director at Fairview Investing, said. “These two are so intertwined that it does distort the picture of US equities. Microsoft is again the world’s largest company with a value just under $3trn. But with Apple, Alphabet and Amazon also in the top ten, a tech fund, a Nasdaq tracker, an S&P tracker and a MSCI World tracker look very similar and perform in tandem.”

See also: Global sustainable funds see first quarter of outflows

He added: “The positive equity stories of 2023 all continue with tech, India, and Japan all starting 2024 with a bang. Two of those areas look pretty expensive – then again they almost always do. Japan remains one of the most interesting stories with corporate change and more shareholder awareness helping drive markets. On the other side, China can’t seem to escape the doom loop – Beijing need a big bang to pull markets from historic lows.”

Yearsley pointed out that, for a brief period of time in January, markets regained some confidence after Beijing announced stimulus measures. However this confidence evaporated, with the Hang Seng index finishing the month down by more than 9%.

“Contrast that with Japan where the Topix put on almost 7% – the BoJ has kept the world’s last remaining negative interest rate policy and wants inflation. Despite the excellent returns from Japanese equities many fund managers are confident on future returns and thinking this is just the start of a sustained bull run. The FTSE had a lacklustre start to 2024 falling 1.27%.”

Oxeye Hedged Income was the top performing fund, returning 9.5% in January. Yearsley noted the fund has regularly topped and tailed the monthly performance tables over the past few years.

Jupiter’s India-focused offerings, Jupiter India and Jupiter India Select, both performed strongly by returning 8.7% and 8.3% respectively. The average IA India fund returned 1.8% over the month.

This comes eight months after the firm received in-principle approvals from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to open a wealth management office in Dubai.

The operation will focus on serving high net worth individuals, single family offices and external asset managers in the UAE and broader Middle East region.

Ravi Raju, head of international wealth management at Nomura said: “DIFC has long established itself as the Middle East’s de facto financial hub and international financial centre.

“Our on-the-ground presence here will help us better tap into the vast pools of wealth in this region, to complement our strategy of serving clients across greater China and southeast Asia as well as the global NRI segment.”

DIFC demand

The DIFC has attracted several notable financial giants recently and the total number of wealth and asset management companies in the financial centre has increased to over 300 – including St James’s Place.

International Adviser reported that financial services giant Edmond de Rothschild Group and Holborn Assets received DFSA approval to open an advisory office in the DIFC.

Some firms which joined the DIFC in 2022 included Octogone Group, Continental Group International, Habib Bank, Alpadis Group and Finsbury Wealth.

The regulator has appointed Kenneth Farrugia as chief executive, with effect from 12 April 2023.

Farrugia was previously director general at the Internal Audit and Investigations Department (IAID) and as director of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU).

He takes over from Michelle Buontempo, who held the position of acting chief executive for the past months.

Nomura

The banking group has appointed Rudolf Hitsch as head of north Asia for its international wealth management business.

In this newly created role, Hitsch will be based in Hong Kong and responsible for international wealth management’s client relationship management teams covering north Asia.

Hitsch was head of north Asia at Citi Private Bank.

Marlborough

The DFM firm has named Danny Knight as commercial director and Nathan Sweeney as chief investment officer of multi-asset.

Knight will have an initial focus on further strengthening Marlborough’s multi-asset investment proposition for financial advisers in the UK and internationally.

He joins from Quilter Investors, where he was a director of multi-asset and latterly head of investment proposition.

Sweeney’s appointment follows the promotion of Sheldon MacDonald to chief investment officer in January.

He joined Marlborough as deputy chief investment officer of multi-asset in 2021.

Capital Group

The asset manager has hired Arne Toelsner as head of client group for Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, effective immediately.

He was most recently as head of distribution for Germany, Switzerland, and Austria at Allianz Global Investors.

O-IM

The investment manager has named Tom Hind as a business development director.

Hind joins O-IM from Stellar Asset Management.

Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo

The banking group has appointed Richard Albrecht as head of wealth management.

Prior to joining Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo, he was head of French-speaking Switzerland as a member of the WM European committee at Deutsche Bank.

Evelyn Partners

The wealth management and professional services group has bolstered its Edinburgh office with the appointment of Duncan Arthur as financial planning director.

He joins from Blackadders Wealth Management in Dundee where he was director of financial planning.

Impax Asset Management

The specialist asset manager has appointed Matt Carter as director of UK intermediary distribution.

He joins Impax from Sarasin & Partners, where he was responsible for the distribution of thematic funds and outsourced investment solutions to financial intermediaries.

Calton Wealth Management

The wealth manager has named Laura Bruce as a non-executive director and Trevor Mitchell as an IFA.

Bruce brings a wealth of experience in financial services, including with the wealth management and private client teams at Barclays and Bank of Scotland.

Mitchell joins CWM from GRC Financial.

Dimensional Fund Advisors

The global investment firm has strengthened its team in northern Europe.

Kevin Hudson-Phillips, a 12-year veteran of Dimensional’s London-based global client group, has transferred to the firm’s Amsterdam office to work with investors in the Nordic and Benelux regions.

He is a regional director and vice president.

Atomos

The wealth manager has appointed Jon Taylor as chair, taking over from Alison Endemano.

Taylor previously sat on the wealth manager’s board as a non-executive director. Endemano had been chair since Oaktree Capital Management invested in Atomos in May 2022.

He has held several senior management roles within financial services including being chief executive of both Ascentric and Co-operative Insurance.

Guinness Global Investors

Tom Pearson has joined the investment firm as sales director for the southwest of England.

Before joining Guinness, Pearson was regional sales director at Crux Asset Management for five years.

STM Group

The cross-border financial services provider has announced Graham Kettleborough has tendered his resignation as a non-executive director of the company and as chair of the group’s UK subsidiary companies.

The resignation will take effect from 28 April 2023.

The banking group has named David Louie as chief executive of its Hong Kong branch.

Before joining EFG, Louie served as market group head China at Credit Suisse for 11 years.

He will succeed Kees Stoute, who will take on the role of private banking chief operating officer for Asia Pacific region and will continue to be based in Hong Kong.

Elsewhere, Boris Collardi, a member of the board of directors of EFG International, will become the chair of the Asia Pacific advisory board.

He will succeed Amy Yip, who has held this role since 2019. Yip will remain a member of both the Asia Pacific advisory board and the board of directors of EFG International.

Also, Harald Reczek has stepped down from his position as head of investment solutions and member of the executive committee of EFG International to pursue new opportunities outside of EFG.

Moz Afzal and Oliver Heinzelmann will assume this position as co-heads in addition to their current responsibilities as chief investment officer and chief executive and head of strategy and business development of EFG Asset Management, respectively.

The group is currently recruiting a head of investment solutions.

Omnis Investments

The investment arm of Openwork has promoted Robert Jeffree to chief executive.

He is currently the chief investment officer at Omnis and will retain these responsibilities in the short term alongside the chief executive role.

First Abu Dhabi Bank

Michel Longhini has been named as group head of global private banking at the UAE company.

He was previously chief executive of private banking at Edmond De Rothschild.

Aria Capital Management

The wealth firm has named Hugh McGrenra as business development manager, according to his Linkedin profile.

McGrenra, who is based in Dubai, was previously head of private clients at Lifecare International.

He was also head of HNW distribution at Quilter International in Dubai.

HSBC

The banking group has named Richard Whitehall as global co-head of fund investment due diligence at its wealth and personal banking arm, according to his Linkedin profile.

Whitehall joins the firm from Aegon, where he was head of portfolio management based in the UK.

Multrees Investor Services

The investment services firm has named David Harrand as business development manager and Martyn Johnson as chief technology officer.

Harrand has previously held relationship manager, account director and business development roles within the financial services sector, most recently with trading services firm Six Securities Services.

Johnson was previously programme director at Multrees.

Nomura Asset Management

The global investment manager has appointed Kevin McFarlane as regional sales director covering the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

He was previously regional sales investment manager for SVM Asset Management.

Navigation Wealth Management

The advice firm has hired Daniel De Block as a financial adviser.

He joins the UK-based firm from Santander where he provided holistic financial advice and guidance to clients across Lancashire.

Head of responsible investment Ben Palmer is set to leave the company in March 2023 after more than a decade.

He joined the investment manager in 2011 as a trainee and took on his current role in August 2020.

BW Sipp

Simon Foster will become chief executive of BW Sipp – Barnett Waddingham’s Sipp business – subject to regulatory approval.

He has worked at the company for three years as head of proposition and implementation. Prior to that, he had been with Zurich for 27 years.

Moneyfarm

The digital wealth manager has named dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia as chair.

She is the founder and executive chair of fintech firm Snoop and was the chief executive of Virgin Money between 2007 and 2018.

She is also chair of HMRC and a director at UniCredit.

Now: Pensions

Claire Bowyer has been promoted to deputy chief executive of the pension provider, part of the Cardano Group.

She has been with the group since 2009 and will continue to be group partner, director and general counsel.

Blackfinch

The investment manager has named Nicholas French as chief distribution officer.

He joins from Marlborough Group, where he served as head of adviser solutions and chief executive of the Select platform for three years.

Carey Olsen

The offshore law firm has promoted Alexa Saunders to head of trusts and private wealth in Jersey.

She joined the firm in 2011 and has been a partner within the trusts and private wealth team since 2016.

Nomura Asset Management

Julian Marks has become head of hybrid bonds within the asset manager’s fixed income team, based in London.

He spent the last 15 years at Neuberger Berman where he was the lead portfolio manager for the corporate hybrid bond strategy.

Channel Capital Advisors

The UK fund manager has appointed Bhoomika Kesaria as head of investor relations.

She joins from fintech investor firm Lendable.

Saffery Champness

The accountancy firm has made a series of hires and promotions across its Guernsey and Geneva offices.

Dominic Lawton-Smith joins as trust director from Crestbridge where he led the Cayman private client business.

Additionally, Sally Hunt and Sophie Walden have become senior trust officer and compliance manager, respectively, in Guernsey.

Also in Guernsey, Claire Tersigni and Simon Ricketts have been promoted to trust managers; Lily Simmons and Denise Brehaut to senior trust officers; and Caitlin Le Gallez to people and culture officer.

In Geneva, Alexia Laird and Saskia Scheelbeek have both been promoted to trust officers.

Tellworth Investments

The UK specialist equity asset manager has recruited Jamie Seed as an investment analyst.

Seed was previously at Jeffreries and Numis and specialises in UK large and mid-cap companies.