China opportunities lure foreign asset managers

MORE foreign asset management firms are expanding into China as the country’s capital market offers more investment opportunities.

Altogether 13 foreign institutions have received Private Securities Investment Fund Manager licenses from the Asset Management Association of China.

Hedge fund giants Bridgewater Associates and Winton Group were the latest to be approved, according to AMAC.

The newly-registered institutions will launch investment products in China within six months, in accordance with regulations.

Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund, has been involved in and studying the Chinese economy and markets for over 30 years, David McCormick, the co-chief executive officer of the firm, said in a statement.

He called China “a globally impactful economy” and Chinese assets “a valuable source of diversification.”

With the new license, the firm plans to expand its presence across China, the statement said.

Winton Group is upbeat about the outlook of the Chinese market.

“We highly value our development in the Chinese market,” said Fred Tian, head of investment solutions for China at Winton Capital Asia Limited. “The opening up came as an inevitable result of the capital market’s development.”

Winton Group is developing investment strategies in China on futures and A shares, according to Tian.

As the capital market opens up further, China’s increasing participation will benefit the diversity and sustainable development of the international market, while a more transparent, fair, and innovative Chinese market will see healthier growth, Tian believes.

China

has

been

taking gradual but resolute steps to open up the financial sector to boost its international competitiveness and ability to serve the real economy.

In recent months, the government has announced a series of new opening-up measures, including expanding the daily quotas for mainland-Hong Kong stock connect programs and scrapping foreign equity restrictions on domestic banks and financial asset management firms.