William Blair Expands Global Footprint With Asia Office Launch

• New opening accompanied by appointment of senior EMD portfolio manager

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--William Blair has announced the opening of a new office in Singapore, expanding its presence in Asia.

This new office strengthens William Blair’s global investment management footprint, which includes an established presence in Europe (offices in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland), Asia (Shanghai), and Australia, as well as in the United States.

The Singapore office is the most recent step in a period of significant international expansion for William Blair Investment Management, following the acquisition of an Emerging Markets Debt (EMD) team and subsequent launch of new investment strategies to complement its existing suite of SICAV products.

The firm has also announced the appointment of Clifford Lau, CFA, as a portfolio manager on its EMD team. Mr. Lau joins William Blair from Columbia Threadneedle Investments, where he was head of fixed income, Asia Pacific, was a senior portfolio manager responsible for managing Asian fixed-income assets, and was involved in product and business development. He was previously head of the Singapore office for Pramerica Fixed Income (the asset management division of Prudential Financial Inc.), where he was responsible for approximately $1 billion of Asian fixed-income assets.

Mr. Lau will be based in William Blair’s new Singapore office and will be joined by Johnny Chen, CFA, who is an EMD portfolio manager. William Blair intends to add further investment and distribution professionals to support its presence in Singapore in due course.

Commenting on the opening of the new Singapore office, Stephanie Braming, CFA, partner and global head of William Blair Investment Management, said:

“2020 has been an exciting year for William Blair. Opening the Singapore office marks a pivotal point in our growth, providing us with a greater level of on-the-ground Asian coverage and insight than ever before. We are leveraging our deep heritage of global investing while creating a strong platform to deliver William Blair’s proven range of equities, fixed income, and multi-asset solutions to Asian investors.”

“We are thrilled that Clifford Lau is joining our firm. This addition reflects William Blair’s continued commitment to give our clients access to the highest-quality investment professionals, and we believe his experience and extensive local market knowledge will prove a highly valuable enhancement to our fast-growing EMD franchise.”

About William Blair

William Blair is the premier global boutique with expertise in investment banking, investment management, and private wealth management. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet our clients' evolving needs. As an independent and employee-owned firm, together with our strategic partners, we operate in more than 20 offices worldwide.*

William Blair Investment Management is a premier global investment management boutique, with a sole focus on active management across equity, fixed income, currency and multi-asset strategies. We are a U.N.-Supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Signatory, Tier-1 U.K. Stewardship Signatory, Investor Stewardship Group Member (Framework for U.S. Stewardship and Governance), and Signatory to the Japan and Korea Stewardship Codes. We work closely with private and public pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as financial advisors. As of June 30, 2020, William Blair Investment Management manages $56.8 billion in assets.

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*Includes strategic partnerships with Allier Capital, BDA Partners, and Poalim Capital Markets