Global Custodian Spring 2020 | Page 4

in this issue... [ C O N T E N T S ] IN-DEPTH MARKET REVIEW 26 HOW ESG FRIENDLY IS SECURITIES LENDING? 54 ASIA’S FUNDS ARMS RACE As environment, social and governance (ESG) factors become ingrained in investment decisions, a landmark move by a Japanese pension fund has sparked a wide debate over sustainability and securities lending. 42 WHY I LEFT MY JOB AT A CUSTODY BANK Custodian banks are losing talent to FinTechs, digital asset firms and more flexible start-up cultures at an alarming rate. Should this be a worry for the world’s largest organisations and what are they doing to reverse this trend? Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore have recently introduced new corporate fund structures designed to be international competitive and encourage asset managers to domicile investment funds in Asia-Pacific. But what are their chances of taking on UCITS? 60 IS THERE STILL ROOM FOR THE BOUTIQUE FUND ADMINISTRATOR? In the fund administration world, the big are getting bigger, meaning the largest players have more assets, technology investment and economies of scale, so is there still a role to play for the boutique provider? 64 FUND MANAGERS BEGIN TO SEE REVENUE GENERATION OPPORTUNITIES FROM TREASURY OPERATIONS As effective cash management becomes increasingly critical to the operations of fund managers in light of new rules such as EMIR and bilateral margining of OTCs, more firms are beginning to build up their in-house treasury operations REGULARS 3 EDITORIAL | JONATHAN WATKINS With global presence comes great responsibility 6 NEWS ROUND-UP AND PEOPLE MOVES 12 UPDATES 18 LEADERS IN CUSTODY Global Custodian announces Leaders in Custody awards shortlist 2020, as celebration is rescheduled to 3 September later this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 82 FINAL THOUGHTS | VIRGINIE O’SHEA Operations teams: under-resourced, under-appreciated and now under increased pressure