FSSA is rebranding back to its heritage name ‘First State Investments’ from 24 November this year, according to managing partner Michael Stapleton, who told Portfolio Adviser the former brand name “has a deep legacy in Asia and emerging market investing”, for both UK and Asia-based clients.
“In our history, there has been some corporate change through time, both in terms of change of ownership and also reorganisation of investment teams inside the business which, more than 10 years ago, saw us depart from the brand ‘First State Investments’,” he explained.
“For the last 10 years we have been known as FSSA. It represented corporate history, as it stands for First State Stewart Asia. But further corporate change has allowed us to go back to that brand, which we have a long and rich heritage with.”
According to the managing partner, one of the key drivers behind returning to the ‘First State’ brand is that many clients still use its former name 10 years later.
“It just gives you a sense of how strong that brand name was when we had to depart from it. So now, this corporate change allows us to go back to simply using the brand that people still continue to refer to us as.”
He added operationally, the team’s “investment philosophy, process, leadership and commitment to clients” will remain unchanged.
Brand history
In 2000, Stewart Ivory was acquired by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and subsequently merged into First State Investments, which was rebranded to First State Stewart 12 years later.
In 2015, the team became FSSA. In 2019, ‘parent company’ First State Investments was entirely rebranded to First Sentier Investors (now First Sentier Group), following its acquisition by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp.
At the end of 2025, First Sentier Group took the decision to transfer the investment management responsibilities of fellow affiliate Stewart Investors to FSSA. To date, Sydney-headquartered First Sentier Group has AU$214.4bn of assets under management and a total of five affiliate investment teams
“Post acquisition, the first thing that happened is the holding company gave up the First State name and adopted the First Sentier name,” Stapleton explained.
“The second thing that happened, is we had two emerging market teams in the business until the end of last year. One was FSSA, the other was Stewart Investors. FSSA and Stewart Investors were part of the same organisation.
“Two Asia Pacific, global emerging market teams which had a legacy with the First State Investments brand name. Those teams were merged in November 2025. It was really the merging of those teams that has given us the opportunity to, without any confusion, go back to this brand name [First State Investments].”
A competitive sector
The managing partner said it became “quite important” for the business to be able to take one single Asian, emerging market brand to market, rather than to operate as two separate affiliates.
“The asset management industry today is more competitive than it has ever been. To really compete in the global industry now, you need to be among one of the best managers in your particular asset class. Gone are the days when a broad range of managers could compete in a particular segment,” he explained.
“We’re also really seeing the market open up; there’s a convergence of the institutional community with the traditional retail wholesale market, where brand names are no longer just relevant in an institutional setting between a fund manager and a fund selector. The brands need to resonate with mums and dads, the underlying investors.
“So I think, more than ever, brand is important in the investment management industry. It’s an incredible industry to operate in today in terms of just how competitive it is, and having to resonate with a much broader audience means branding is becoming more and more central.”
The future for First State Investments
In terms of how the soon-to-be-rebranded ‘First State Investments’ team will continue to operate under the First Sentier umbrella, Stapleton said they will continue to work closely together.
“We very much operate hand-in-glove with First Sentier Group. It’s a very critical part of our organisation in term of both operational and distribution support,” he explained. “So, hopefully, from a First Sentier perspective, we offer an opportunity to grow in terms of market depth and breadth, but also serve as an example to investment teams outside of the group, in terms of what can be achieved inside this organisation.”
Looking more broadly, the managing partner said while Asia and emerging markets have struggled over the last decade relative to their tech-dominated developed market counterparts, “the next 10 years are unlikely to look the same as the past”.
“We feel that Asia and emerging markets are perhaps coming into an era where they’re far more relevant and popular among client portfolios, as investors weigh up the valuation differential between developed and emerging markets, and also the growth opportunity,” he said.
“As we begin to extend our business into more markets and more geographies, it seems like this brand will give us a much stronger platform to push into a broader range of markets, as clients and investors begin to re-evaluate the attractiveness of investment in Asia.”
