William Blair has announced the opening of a new office in Singapore, expanding its presence in Asia.

This new office strengthens William Blair's global investment management footprint, which includes an established presence in Europe (offices in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland), Asia (Shanghai), and Australia, as well as in the United States.

The Singapore office is the most recent step in a period of significant international expansion for William Blair Investment Management, following the acquisition of an Emerging Markets Debt (EMD) team and subsequent launch of new investment strategies to complement its existing suite of SICAV products.

The firm has also announced the appointment of Clifford Lau, CFA, as a portfolio manager on its EMD team. Mr. Lau joins William Blair from Columbia Threadneedle Investments, where he was head of fixed income, Asia Pacific, was a senior portfolio manager responsible for managing Asian fixed-income assets, and was involved in product and business development. He was previously head of the Singapore office for Pramerica Fixed Income (the asset management division of Prudential Financial Inc.), where he was responsible for approximately $1 billion of Asian fixed-income assets.

Mr. Lau will be based in William Blair's new Singapore office and will be joined by Johnny Chen, CFA, who is an EMD portfolio manager. William Blair intends to add further investment and distribution professionals to support its presence in Singapore in due course.

About William Blair

William Blair is the premier global partnership with expertise in investment banking, investment management, and private wealth management. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet our clients' evolving needs. As an independent and employee-owned firm, together with our strategic partners, we operate in more than 20 offices worldwide.*

William Blair Investment Management is a premier global investment management partnership, with a sole focus on active management across equity, fixed income, currency and multi-asset strategies. We are a U.N.-Supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Signatory, Investor Stewardship Group Member (Framework for U.S. Stewardship and Governance), and Signatory to the Japan and Korea Stewardship Codes. We work closely with private and public pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as financial advisors. As of June 30, 2020, William Blair Investment Management manages $56.8 billion in assets.

In Singapore, this material is provided for your use only by William Blair International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (Registration Number 201943312R). William Blair International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under a Capital Markets Services License to conduct fund management activities. By accepting this material you represent that you are a non-retail investor and that you will not copy, distribute or otherwise make this material available to any person.

*Includes strategic partnerships with Allier Capital, BDA Partners, and Poalim Capital Markets