ICI Global Expands Asia Presence with Hong Kong Office 

Fund Authority Qiumei Yang to Head Asia-Pacific Effort

London, 25 February 2013 - ICI Global, the voice of global funds and their investors, today announces that it is opening an office specifically focused on the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region. The office, which complements ICI Global’s London headquarters, will be based in Hong Kong.

Qiumei Yang has been named Executive Vice President, Head of Asia Pacific for ICI Global, and will oversee the organisation’s operations in the region. Yang comes to ICI Global from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx), where she serves as head of mainland development. Yang played a critical role in the exchange’s business development and assisted in HKEx’s acquisition of the London Metal Exchange. Yang’s career also includes 10 years at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), in successive roles as a commissioner on the planning commission, deputy director general for the department of international affairs, and deputy director general for the department of investment fund supervision.

“Transnational regulatory efforts affecting funds have become the norm: it is crucial the dialogue shaping such regulations fully include voices from the dynamic, diverse markets within the Asia-Pacific Region,” said ICI Global Managing Director Dan Waters. “Qiumei is ideally positioned to organise and raise this voice with relevant authorities. She is an accomplished expert in both policy and market development, with a global career spanning three continents.”

Yang said the growing need for a pan-Asian voice of the fund industry drew her to ICI Global. “The perspective of Asia-based funds and their investors will enrich and improve the global regulatory dialogue,” Yang said. “And the extraordinary growth of the asset management sector in many Asian locales, such as China, provides impetus for ICI Global to deepen and strengthen its presence in the region. Funds are becoming an increasingly common and important tool for Asian investors. It’s natural that fund managers would share more information and insights, and shape a common stance on pressing policy issues.” 

While at the CSRC, Yang was very active within the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), serving on IOSCO’s standing committee on investment management, and chairing the working group on investment funds in the IOSCO emerging markets committee. As a PhD economist, she has taught at universities in the United States and Latvia, and for several years worked as a consultant to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

ICI Global will commence its local operations in Hong Kong on 1 May 2013.

ICI Global’s Mission and Structure

ICI Global is a trade organisation focused on regulatory, market, and other issues for global investment funds, their managers, and investors. ICI Global members include regulated funds publicly offered to investors in jurisdictions worldwide, making it the first industry body exclusively advancing the perspective of globally active funds. ICI Global was founded in the autumn of 2011 and is based in London.

ICI Global’s policy priorities and purposes fall into four broad categories: the role of funds and fund managers in financial stability; key transnational regulatory developments for funds; global trading and market structure policy developments; and the role of funds in retirement savings and pension systems.

The organisation serves as a conduit for proactive dialogue with a broad range of national and transnational regulators and organisations. It also advocates for regulatory policies that promote funds as long-term investing vehicles, working in close cooperation with national and regional fund and other associations worldwide. 

ICI Global’s rapidly growing membership of nearly three dozen firms includes Asia-based members such as China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited, China Universal Asset Management, HuaAn Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., and Nikko Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Editor’s note: Downloadable photo of Qiumei Yang is available. Her biography follows below.

Qiumei Yang
Executive Vice President, Head of Asia Pacific
ICI Global

Qiumei Yang is Executive Vice President, Head of Asia Pacific, for ICI Global. Yang comes to ICI Global from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx), where she served as deputy head of the market development division and head of mainland development Yang played a critical role in the exchange’s business development and assisted in HKEx’s acquisition of the London Metal exchange.

Yang’s career also includes 10 years at the China Securities Regulatory Commission in roles including deputy director general for the department of investment fund supervision. In that job, she represented the People’s Republic of China in the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), serving on the standing committee on investment management. She also chaired IOSCO’s working group on investment funds in the IOSCO emerging market committee.

In addition, Yang has taught at universities in the United States and Latvia, and for several years worked as a consultant to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Peking University and her PhD in economics from the University of Illinois.