Emerging market hard-currency bonds generally seem a better buy now than their local-currency equivalents, says Sergio Trigo-Paz, the US fund house's head of EM debt.
Asian institutions are shunning fixed-income ETFs due to low liquidity and lack of product choice, hampering industry growth. Recent market volatility has exacerbated the situation.
The world's largest asset manager starts with three index equity funds targeting institutional and retail investors in the city, but plans to extend that to active and diversified products in future.
The choice of multi-asset income products available in Hong Kong has further expanded, after inflows into such strategies grew 600% year-on-year in early 2013.
A study finds just a third of Asian institutions invest in quant strategies, versus more than four out of five US peers. As a result, they are expected to play catch up.
The firm appoints Scott Greenberg from Morgan Stanley as the first Asia representative of its global capital markets team. He will target primary equity and debt investment opportunities.
The US fund house has appointed Sabrina Gan in the Lion City, to work in conjunction with recent arrival Julia Lee in Hong Kong, as it strives to streamline its product offering.