Asset managers rush to establish onshore China funds

Since Fidelity International said in January it had won the first-ever approval to launch onshore investment products in China, a steady stream of rivals have set up their own wholly foreign-owned enterprises, known as WFOEs, the Financial Times reports. Invesco and Neuberger Berman joined the club just last week. The aim for many of the recent entrants is to begin operating in China’s booming private funds market without having to be the minority partner in a locally controlled joint venture. The longer-term goal is that if this goes well, international managers will eventually be granted wider access to the country’s fast-developing retail fund market. But like many aspects of business in China, the process and the potential of the scheme are both still works in progress. Assets committed to China’s private funds doubled last year to Rmb10.24tn ($1.5tn) and grew another 7% in the first month of this year.