SINGAPORE, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Zain Fancy, the former
head of Morgan Stanley’s Asia real estate investment business,
has set up a firm in Singapore to invest in small and
medium-sized properties following the end of a legal dispute
with Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC.

Fancy had left Morgan Stanley in 2008 to
join Och-Ziff as head of a joint venture between the U.S. fund
manager and several ex-Morgan Stanley executives that would
invest in property.

SINGAPORE, Oct 25 (Reuters) – The pan-Asian “girl band”
Blush has been around for only 11 months but already has a track
record more established groups might envy — a single that hit
number three on the U.S. dance music charts and rapper Snoop
Dogg in one of their songs.

This week, the English-singing group, whose members hail
from Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Korea and India, will
open for the Black Eyed Peas at their Manila concert. They
appeared at a Justin Bieber concert in Hong Kong earlier this
year.

SINGAPORE/PERTH, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Australian oil and gas
firm Woodside Petroleum and East Timor have both
signalled a more conciliatory approach to talks on the stalled
Sunrise LNG project, after a prolonged and sometimes bitter
dispute over the location of the plant.

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Friday his
compatriots who had met new Woodside CEO Peter Coleman were
“positively impressed by him” and expressed hope that the two
sides will make a breakthrough to develop the large gas project.

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Singapore-based
hedge fund Komodo Capital Management Pte Ltd is liquidating its
flagship global macro fund KC Asia, its founder and Chief
Investment Officer Angus Cameron told Reuters on Tuesday.

Cameron, who founded the firm in 2006, said the fund had
returned money to investors and was moving operations to
Australia for “personal reasons”.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Standard Chartered has set up an onshore presence in Kenya for private banking and wants to grow that business in other parts of Africa, its head of private banking said on Wednesday.

“We have put some staff into Africa. Kenya is one,” Shayne Nelson, the CEO of StanChart’s (STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) private bank, told the Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit in Singapore.

GENEVA/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – (For other news from Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit, click here) UBS would be wrong to ditch its investment bank following a trading scandal, since it is a major draw for rich entrepreneurs seeking corporate finance expertise for their own firms, rival private bankers said.

“UBS is growing primarily because of Asian growth. The reason is because of the growth of its investment bank,” said Louay Al-Doory, head of global business development at Swiss boutique wealth manager Reyl & Cie.

SINGAPORE/GENEVA (Reuters) – Wealthy individuals should buy gold as it has become an attractive investment following last month’s sharp reversal, private bankers in Asia said on Monday.

“Gold at $2,000 is absolutely, potentially on the uptrack, despite the selloff. That is sort of the immediate target,” Marcel Kreis, Credit Suisse’s head of private banking for Asia-Pacific, told the Reuters Wealth Management Summit in Singapore.

SINGAPORE, Oct 3 (Reuters) – Credit Suisse CGSN.VX, which
ranks among Asia’s top five private banks, signaled it may cut
costs amid a tough business environment for the next two years
and warned that private banks have slowed hiring in the region.

Asia’s private banking industry has been hit by rising costs
and heightened caution among rich clients to invest in risky,
high-margin financial products, derailing a recovery after the
2008/09 financial crisis.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A resolution to the problems engulfing Europe and its debt crisis will be found, Deutsche Bank’s DKBGn.DE co-CEO designate said on Thursday, though the road to finding an outcome is layered with risks and uncertainty.

“We are therefore positive that a resolution will be found, but there is real risk of an accident in the meantime, and the path will be uncertain and markets will remain volatile,” Anshu Jain, the German lender’s global head of the corporate and investment bank, said in prepared remarks at Deutsche Bank-sponsored conference in Singapore.

By Kevin Lim

(Reuters) – As the ranks of middle-class art buyers in wealthy Singapore grow, galleries representing artists such as Damien Hirst — best known for works featuring preserved animal corpses that cost millions — are aiming lower, taking advantage of an art-buying boom.

Around ten pieces by Hirst, all of them prints, will be offered for less than $8,000 along with thousands of other works of art at the Affordable Art Fair Singapore in November.