SEI, a global provider of financial technology, operations, and asset management services, has opened an office in Singapore, extending its operations into one of Asia’s most important financial hubs. The office will initially offer asset servicing, professional services, and distribution of SEI’s UCITS funds, with the company planning to expand into additional products and broader enterprise asset management, technology, and operations offerings as client demand grows.
The launch lands at a moment of real momentum for Singapore’s asset management industry. Assets under management at Singapore-based firms grew 10% year-on-year to reach S$6.7 trillion in 2025, the highest level on record, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s 2025 Singapore Asset Management Survey. Notably, more than three-fifths of that AUM is sourced from outside Singapore, and 88% of it is invested globally, underlining the city-state’s role as a hub for managing money that both comes from, and flows into, markets far beyond its borders.
SEI brings real scale to this move. The company provides asset servicing for 48 of the world’s 100 largest asset managers and ranks among the top five largest administrators of private assets globally, managing, advising, or administering roughly $2.1 trillion in total assets as of June 2026.
Connall McGuckian has been named Managing Director and Head of Singapore, tasked with driving the region’s growth. McGuckian joins from State Street Singapore, where he spent nearly 14 years, most recently as Chief Operating Officer for the firm’s Alternatives Investment Solutions business in Asia-Pacific, and before that spent nine years at Goldman Sachs, including helping establish its Singapore administration services operation in 2011.
Sanjay Sharma, CEO of SEI International and Global Head of SEI’s Private Banking business, framed the Singapore launch as a deliberate, selective move rather than a broad regional rollout. “Singapore is a critical market for SEI’s growth in Asia-Pacific and an important milestone in the evolution of our international business,” Sharma said. “As part of our international growth strategy, we’re investing in markets where we believe we deliver the greatest value to clients. Singapore’s prominence as a global financial center, combined with the continued growth of the region’s asset management industry, makes it an ideal location to expand our presence. Clients are increasingly looking for scalable, connected solutions that help them operate more efficiently, navigate complexity, and pursue growth across markets and jurisdictions.”
McGuckian tied his own appointment directly to what APAC asset managers are asking for as they scale across markets. “As Asia-Pacific financial services firms look to expand across markets and asset classes, they need strategic partners that can help them navigate change, facilitate scale, simplify complexity, and position them for long-term growth,” McGuckian said. “SEI brings the global infrastructure, operational expertise, technology capabilities, and professional services to enable clients to operate more efficiently. Establishing a presence in Singapore allows SEI to tap into exceptional local talent while supporting the continued growth and evolution of Asia’s asset management industry.”
For most asset managers in the region, this office opening won’t change much immediately, it’s a services and infrastructure provider setting up shop, not a product launch aimed at retail investors. What it does signal is where global asset servicing firms see the next phase of growth. Not in building new demand, but in being physically closer to a market that’s already managing trillions of dollars and sending most of it abroad. For Singapore’s asset management ecosystem, another major servicing player setting up locally adds to the city-state’s case as a genuine operational hub, not just a place capital passes through.
Herald View: The real story here isn’t the office opening, it’s the hire. SEI didn’t bring in a generalist executive to lead Singapore, it brought in someone who spent 14 years at State Street and before that helped build Goldman Sachs’ own Singapore operations from scratch. That’s a signal about how SEI sees this market. Not as a satellite office to check a box on a map, but as a long-term bet worth paying for senior, locally rooted expertise. Singapore has spent years positioning itself as Asia’s asset management capital, and moves like this, global servicing giants setting up real operational depth rather than just a sales presence, are exactly the kind of quiet validation that case depends on.