Ken Yap is managing director of Cerulli’s Asia Pacific office. He oversees Cerulli’s business development strategy and research initiatives in the region. For more than 20 years, Ken has worked with asset managers, distributors, and financial institutions, identifying expansion opportunities with his deep knowledge of the market. He specializes in product development and market entry strategies into Asia’s established and emerging markets.

Prior to leading the Singapore office, Ken covered local and global asset management and distribution trends in Cerulli’s London and Boston offices. Before joining Cerulli, Ken was a consultant at Analysys’ Cambridge office in the U.K.

Education

• University of Cambridge
  Master of Business Administration

• National University of Singapore
  Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering

Honors and awards

• CFA® charterholder

• Product development and fund distribution
• Institutional demand and outsourcing opportunities
• Asset management in China
• Emerging opportunities in Southeast Asia
• Retirement and insurance markets
• ESG development in Asia

• Analyzed institutional asset owners in Southeast Asia, focusing on their views on ETFs, the scope for product innovation, and factors that could lead to increasing use of ETFs for a US-based asset manager

• Assessed US-based asset managers’ strategy lineup against China asset management markets and identified potential strategic partners for a subadvisory and knowledge transfer relationship

• Produced an assessment of China’s private fund market covering investor demand, product preferences, WFOE business scope, competitive analysis, and organization structures for a Europe-based global asset manager to analyze the China fund market

• Delivered Malaysian market entry strategy to an Asia-based asset manager, which included an analysis of the retail fund market, institutional investments, outsourcing practices, Sharia product trends, distribution landscape, and addressable assets for foreign managers