Canada investment fund IMCO eyes Singapore for regional headquarters

THE Canadian investment fund that manages assets for Ontario's public sector is looking towards Singapore to set up its regional headquarters, as it seeks to boost its portfolio in Asia in the next few years.

Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) was created in July 2016 to manage assets on behalf of Ontario public-sector funds on a not-for-profit basis. It operates independently of the Canada government and has no other lines of business.

The move comes as the firm looks to "exponentially" increase its Asia portfolio in the next few years, the Canada-based firm told The Business Times on Thursday.

The market value of IMCO's Asia holdings stands at C$5.8 billion (S$5.87 billion), or 9 per cent of the fund's total assets under management (AUM).

Singapore investments stand at C$82.9 million, making up 0.1 per cent of the fund's total AUM.

China is the market it is most exposed to in Asia-Pacific, with a market value of C$1.83 billion, and making up 2.8 per cent of total AUM. Tencent Holdings tops the list with a market value of C$205.4 million or 0.3 per cent of the total AUM.

Next is Japan with a market value of C$914.7 million, or 1.4 per cent of the total AUM. The top holding in the market is Keyence Corp, at C$51.9 million, making up 0.1 per cent of total AUM.

This is followed by South Korea, India and Hong Kong with market values of C$734.0 million, C$589.0 million and CS$485.1 million respectively. These constitute 1.1 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 0.7 per cent of total AUM respectively.