In its latest move to put assets in the hands of non-government managers, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said yesterday it had chosen fund managers to oversee S$4.1 billion of its assets, part of S$10 billion it committed in 1998. Placing billions of US dollars of government money into the hands of international fund managers has been a foundation of the city-state's drive to rival Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney as financial centres.

Analysts say some fund managers are moving to Singapore in the wake of the plan.

The latest money comes on top of the S$25 billion that the government of Singapore Investment Corp, the country's main investment arm, planned to hand out during three years beginning in 1998.

The remaining S$5.9 billion of MAS funds will be disbursed by the first quarter of next year. The central bank declined to identify who would manage the money given over to commercial management yesterday.

While the money is only a fraction of the S$246.2 billion under management in Singapore at the end of last year, fund managers said it would help to justify their increased presence in Singapore.

"It's a bonus to the industry," said Dennis Lim, a Templeton Asset Management director.

"I was talking to some of my colleagues and they mentioned they continue to see some migration of fund managers from Hong Kong to Singapore."

When picking the winners of the mandate, the government rewarded those firms that brought the most new money into the city and developed the best plans for nurturing local talent.

"These funds are meant to serve as seed money to encourage existing as well as new players," said Lim Hng Kiang, the country's second minister of finance.

Funds under management in Singapore at the end of last year were 63 per cent more than the S$150.6 billion managed at the end of 1998. The number of investment professionals expanded 20 per cent.