Private ownership is an advantage in a challenging market, two leading privately owned shipmanagers claim.

The heads of Hong Kong's two biggest managers, Anglo-Eastern's Bjorn Hojgaard and Fleet Management's Kishore Rajvanshy, believe private ownership offers greater flexibility than their publicly owned rivals.

They say it allows them to grow at a rate that fits the market rather than the expectations of private investors, leaving them in a position to turn down customers that do not fit their shipmanagement philosophy.