Ignites Asia • 22nd August 2025

Retail private markets hype raises concerns about investor suitability

Asset managers have been touting the benefits of wealth and retail-oriented private markets-focused products, but actual investor demand for such investments remains unclear.

Ignites Asia • 19th August 2025

JPMorgan piles active ETFs into Singapore. Will assets follow?

JPMorgan Asset Management on Monday rolled out eight new active exchange traded funds in Singapore, adding to the three products already available to investors in the city-state, in a move that suggests firms expect such strategies to grow in popularity.

Ignites Asia • 13th August 2025

Greater China investors fuel Asia Pacific ETF sales boom

Growth in Asia's exchange-traded funds market is outpacing other global markets, driven by investors in Greater China, analysts say.

Ignites Asia • 6th August 2025

What's keeping female fund execs locked out of the C-suite?

In Asia Pacific's flourishing funds industry, women across financial hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong are increasingly stepping into senior positions – but not quite breaking into the C-suite.

Ignites Asia • 4th August 2025

JPMorgan plans 'aggressive rollout' of active ETFs in Singapore

JPMorgan Asset Management seeks to register eight active exchange-traded funds in Singapore, in what is being called an "aggressive rollout" that positions the US firm as an early mover in a market poised for strong growth.

Ignites Asia • 28th July 2025

China exit ban has firms rethinking business travel

China's latest exit ban on a Wells Fargo banker has intensified finance industry concerns over staff safety and freedom of movement, prompting asset managers to reassess corporate travel to the country.

Ignites Asia • 22nd July 2025

JPMorgan picked as one of three managers for Singapore's market revamp

JPMorgan Asset Management is one of three asset managers picked by Singapore to manage a S$1.1bn (US$856mn) mandate under a scheme aimed at reviving its lagging local stock market.

South China Morning Post • 19th April 2025

From Bandung to Brics: Indonesia’s evolving quest for Global South autonomy

Seven decades after hosting a summit that birthed the Non-Aligned Movement, Indonesia prioritises pragmatic ties over grand gestures.

South China Morning Post • 8th March 2025

Emas or gelap? Prabowo’s golden dream and Indonesia’s ‘dark’ realities collide

With a shrinking middle class, falling commodity prices and youth unemployment on the rise, experts warn of an economic paradox in the making.

South China Morning Post • 17th May 2025

India’s manufacturers fear becoming collateral damage of US-China trade war

From yarn to steel, India’s domestic industries say they’re being priced out as Chinese firms redirect exports away from the United States.

South China Morning Post • 18th November 2023

‘We’re on our own’: Asian rice farmers brace for El Nino’s wrath as crops wither

From Thailand to the Philippines and Indonesia, El Nino is back with a vengeance and experts say it may be set to torment the paddy providing Asia with its staple food.

South China Morning Post • 18th November 2023

Indonesian leader Jokowi’s US visit falls short – could China stand to benefit?

The recently signed US-Indonesia comprehensive strategic partnership shows the lack of potential for bilateral economic ties to deepen.

South China Morning Post • 4th November 2023

In Southeast Asia’s EV race, domestic markets face a long and winding road

Electric vehicles still only account for a fraction of Southeast Asia’s total car sales, but with a recent triple-digit surge in demand driven by consumers in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia that could be about to change.

South China Morning Post • 20th August 2023

South China Sea: could Philippines and Vietnam bond over assertive Beijing?

While Vietnam and China are close ideologically, the long-standing and increasingly volatile maritime dispute could bring Southeast Asia’s Manila and Hanoi closer together, say analysts.

South China Morning Post • 26th June 2023

‘We shouldn’t be gutless’: Indonesia doubles down on bauxite ore export ban

The ban is part of Indonesia’s ‘downstreaming policy’ to boost revenue from raw materials by requiring miners and producers to build onshore refining facilities.

South China Morning Post • 11th June 2023

Fears mount of marine life, island loss as Indonesia U-turns on sea-sand exports

Activists and coastal dwellers warn that restarting sea-sand exports threatens fishermen’s livelihoods and could hasten the loss of Indonesia’s many small islands.

South China Morning Post • 16th April 2023

‘Much easier’: QR codes power rural India into a cashless economy

India, once a cash-only economy, is undergoing a digital revolution, thanks to the country’s home-grown scan-and-pay systems.

CNN • 16th September 2021

Jakarta residents win battle for clean air against Indonesian government

(CNN) A Jakarta court on Thursday ruled the Indonesian government had failed to uphold citizens' right to clean air, in a landmark judgment campaigners hope will force authorities to take action on the city's notorious smog.

The long-awaited decision ends a two-year legal challenge brought by 32 Jakarta citizens against Indonesian President Joko Widodo, three cabinet ministers, the Jakarta governor, and two provincial leaders. The court ruled that the defendants were guilty of "committing "unla

CNN • 1st August 2021

Families are at war over a wedding tradition India banned decades ago

(CNN) Vismaya Nair had been married for just over one year when she was found dead in the bathroom of her husband's family's home in India's southwestern Kerala state.

Initially, police had no reason to view the 24-year-old student's death on June 21 as suspicious, until her family made a complaint under the country's "dowry death" law.

The law allows charges to be brought against people for causing the death or suicide of a woman within the first seven years of her marriage in which the famil

CNN • 14th July 2021

Almost half of this capital city's population may have contracted Covid-19, survey finds

The survey, published July 10, tested for coronavirus antibodies in the blood of about 5,000 people across the city from March 15-31. The results showed 44.5% of those tested had antibodies, indicating they had been infected with Covid-19.

Jakarta has a population of about 10.6 million, government figures show. According to the researchers, as many as 4.7 million people may have been infected in the capital by March 31.

"Through this survey, we can estimate the proportion of Jakarta residents

CNN • 3rd July 2021

These countries used Chinese vaccines and still have Covid-19 cases

Hong Kong and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (CNN) In Mongolia, hospitals are overwhelmed. In the tiny archipelago of Seychelles, more than 100 new Covid-19 cases are being reported each day. And in Chile, a nationwide lockdown was lifted this week -- but the country is still reporting thousands of daily cases .

What links these countries is that they have each fully inoculated more than 50% of their populations, largely with Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines. And that's raised questions over the vaccin

NBC News • 5th May 2021

Oxygen trains in India are racing to save patients amid growing crisis

Oxygen supplies are being rushed by train to New Delhi amid shortages across hospitals in the nation's capital, as India's Covid-19 crisis deepens.

The country confirmed a record 3,780 deaths Wednesday, a day after it became only the second country after the United States to pass 20 million total infections.

Piyush Goyal, the minister for railways, called the trains "Oxygen Express" in a tweet and said they would “provide a continued supply of oxygen for Covid-19 patients in the capital.”

He

NBC News • 3rd May 2021

Modi's party takes electoral hit as virus cases spiral

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party lost a key state in elections over the weekend amid mounting criticism of his handling of the country’s worsening Covid-19 crisis.

On Monday, India recorded more than 300,000 new cases for the 12th straight day, bringing the country’s total infections to nearly 20 million, according to Health Ministry figures. Experts fear that the real number may be 10 times higher in the nation of over 1.35 billion people.

The country also reported over 218,000 dea

NBC News • 28th April 2021

India surges past 200,000 Covid deaths amid record new cases

India passed 200,000 Covid-19 deaths Wednesday, becoming only the fourth country to do so, as it battles a devastating second wave of infections.

The surge in new infections has stretched hospitals across the country to a breaking point, with widespread shortages of medical oxygen and beds. Patients and their loved ones desperately search for hospitals with intensive care units that can make room for them, turning to social media to find access to vacant beds and oxygen online.

Increased infec

NBC News • 26th April 2021

Chinese social media bypass censors to support Chloé Zhao's Oscars wins

Social media users in China got creative Monday to celebrate Chloé Zhao's historic Oscars victory after the Chinese government censored mention of her name.

Zhao, who was born in Beijing, won the Academy Award for best director Sunday for "Nomadland," but searches for her name and for the film were few and far between on Chinese social media platforms. "Nomadland" also won the award for best picture and similarly got the silent treatment.

On China's Twitter-like Weibo, users bypassed censors b

NBC News • 10th March 2021

India Covid rates plummet, experts struggle to find explanation

India’s Covid-19 infection rate plummeted, but experts still don’t know why. NBC News’ Janis Mackey Frayer explains the factors scientists are looking at in India’s comeback.