Putnam Investments today unveiled a new office in Beijing, representing the firm’s first foothold in China. The new office will be managed by Michael Luo, who reports directly to Joseph T. Phoenix, Head of Putnam Global Institutional Management.
Luo joined Putnam from Invesco Great Wall, based in Shenzhen, where he established a fixed income team and focused on growing the firm’s China-based institutional client relationships, through the representation of their global investment products.
Putnam already has an existing presence in Asia and Australia via an investment office in Singapore, and sales and client service offices in Sydney and Tokyo.
“With the opening of our Beijing office, Putnam is placing an important stake in the ground to potentially offer our investment management, product design and distribution expertise to one of the most important growth markets in the world,” stated Robert L. Reynolds, chief executive officer, Putnam Investments.
“As the financial industry continues to develop in China, we think there is tremendous opportunity for a deep-rooted, global asset manager to help their major institutions with the type of fundamental research-driven active investment approach that a firm like Putnam can bring to the equation.”
Reynolds added that the firm is looking forward to building upon its business in Japan and expanding investment research presence in Singapore.
