Global fund managers battle for investor cash bound for China
Foreign money managers in China have begun chasing after tens of billions of dollars of funds expected to be drawn in coming years by Beijing's stepped-up opening of its capital markets, creating fresh opportunities for China's stagnant fund sector.
China this year boosted its Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme, the main channel for foreign investment into China's stock and bond markets, hoping to attract long-term players such as pension and endowment funds to help stabilise the country's volatile, speculator-driven stock market.
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But many of these foreign funds lack the networks and knowledge to invest directly in China, and are turning to third-party managers or advisers to help with their portfolios.
"A lot of new names are coming on. They don't have a footing in China, but they're eager to get into asset allocation," said Gerard DeBenedetto, CEO of AZ Investment Management, an advisory firm majority-owned by Italian asset manager Azimut Holding Spa (AZMT.MI). His firm has seen a pickup in enquiries from QFII investors over the past six months, he added.
Many of China's domestic fund managers lack the basics, such as English-speaking staff or IT systems suitable for QFII business, and have shorter investment horizons with typically faster turnover in stock holdings and investment managers than foreign-invested asset managers, industry executives and analysts say.
This presents an advantage to foreign fund companies, which are required to operate in China through joint ventures with domestic partners and already have
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