Aviva Investors, the asset management arm of insurance firm Aviva, plans to expand in Asia by hiring bond and equity fund managers in Singapore and setting up a sales offices in Japan.

Aviva Investors intends to set up a regional asset management firm in Singapore and will hire 25-30 people to build up its equities and fixed income investment capabilities, as well as opening offices in Saudi Arabia and Japan to distribute investment products, its Asia Pacific chief executive Craig Bingham said.

“Asia is still a substantial greenfield for us,” said Bingham, who is in the process of hiring a CEO for the Singapore office who would recruit fund managers, analysts, marketing and support staff.

Asset management firms have had a turnaround in fortunes over the past 12 months in line with a recovery in global markets, with some hedge funds also looking to expand into Asian financial centres Singapore and Hong Kong.

Aviva Investors has about $420 billion in assets under management, the bulk of it from parent company Aviva and other insurance affiliates. Only about $20 billion is invested in Asia, of which about half is managed out of Australia and the rest from London.

Bingham said there was strong interest among clients to invest a larger portion of their funds in Asia, and predicted the Singapore operation will manage about $3 billion in three years.

Aviva Investors was set up in September 2008 through the combination of asset management businesses owned by Aviva. It has a relatively small presence in Asia outside Australia, and the Singapore unit handles only real estate investments.

Bingham, who is based in Melbourne, said the new staff would more than double numbers at its Singapore operations to 45-50 people by the end of next year.

The Singapore unit will oversee Aviva Investors' operations in Asia except for Australia, which will work separately, and China, where the firm has signed an agreement with broker Central China Securities to set up a joint venture asset management company. The China venture has yet to receive regulatory approval.

Bingham said it was possible Aviva Investors would consider acquisitions, although growth in the region will largely be organic, as the cost of buying firms was high and there was no guarantee of keeping staff once the deal was sealed.

“I've seen lots of companies pay high multiples and end up not getting what they paid for... The number of success stories is really limited.”