Ashmore first Western fund to get China stock quota

London-based investment manager Ashmore has become the first foreign group outside of Hong Kong to be allowed to directly invest in Chinese equities, Financial Times reported, citing the company. Permission has been granted as part of a recently agreed deal between London and Beijing giving British investors greater access to China’s US$3.4 trillion equity market and US$4.7 trillion bond market. Under a fixed investment quota for the UK of US$13.2 billion, Ashmore is expected to receive a small allocation, in the hundreds of millions of renminbi.