THOSE FAMOUS “GREEN SHOOTS,” the first signs of economic recovery, are reported not only in the US, but other developed markets as well. As the International Monetary Fund noted late last year, “The global economy is expanding again, and financial conditions have improved markedly.”

YET, TO AN EXTENT THIS CRISIS has been a developed-world phenomenon. Certainly, effects have been felt in developing countries and increased the misery of the poorest and most vulnerable. Yet, in relative terms, developing countries – notably China, India and Indonesia – have emerged unscathed from the financial crisis, the Great Recession, and their economies have powered on. India, the other major player, will be covered extensively in another edition of PROJECT M.

WHILE ECONOMISTS WILL ARGUE for decades to come about the causes, one effect of the crisis is to accelerate the rise of Asia. In a sense, this is the correction of a historic anomaly. For more than eight centuries, Asia was the key economic region in the world. It was only in the last two centuries that the West came to dominate.

What we are now seeing is an increasingly organized, technologically advancing and population-rich Asia reasserting itself as a force in world affairs. This process will be disruptive. It will challenge many political, economic and cultural certainties that have existed since the end of the Second World War. It could also be downright painful for Western countries used to their view being the dominant one.

IN THIS EDITION OF PROJECT M, Asia is firmly in our focus. We examine how these trends relate to the asset management and retirement industries. In the short term, Asia plays an important role in determining the health of the international finance system. In the longer term, how Asian countries address the issues of retirement, savings and aging in general will have an increasingly important role in defining the shape of our industry. Have a prosperous new year of the Tiger.

Yours sincerely,  

Brigitte Miksa

Head of International Pensions

Allianz Global Investors

(Illustration: Berto Martinez)