BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese market has always been of strategic significance for BlackRock, reported Xinhua-run China Securities Journal citing the company's China business head Fan Hua on Monday.
Starting to take root in the market since 18 years ago, BlackRock's China business units expanded nowadays to qualified domestic limited partner (QDLP), private equity (PE), wealth management firm and mutual funds, said Fan during a recent media briefing.
Similar to BlackRock, other foreign financial institutions also ramped up their business layout in China recently, which, as analysts held, resulted from the growing market and opportunities brought by China's deepening financial opening up.
-- China remains a vital market
In 2024, BlackRock sped construction of its localized platforms in China, introduced Fan, adding that its wholly-owned BlackRock Fund Management Co., Ltd. now manages publicly-offered funds in excess of 10 billion yuan and BlackRock CCB Wealth Management Ltd. boasts eight product series.
Recently, BlackRock resumed its QDLP products and is communicating with channel providers to prepare for future operation of such products and planning to issue products such as global bonds, etc., according to Fan.
In the future, the company intends to extend its layout in cross-boundary wealth management connect, mutual recognition of funds (MRF) scheme, and ETF products under Stock Connect to provide convenient vehicles for Chinese investors to purchase overseas assets.
Apart from BlackRock, others such as UBS Group also expressed confidence in the Chinese market. Sergio P. Ermotti, Group CEO of UBS, noted recently that China is an important market for the company.
As the world's second largest stock market, the Chinese market presented resilience in the face of recent challenges and provided plentiful opportunities for global investors, according to Sergio P. Ermotti.
China has demonstrated determination for high-quality transformation and development and UBS regards as always China as a strategically important market to achieve growth, said Iqbal Khan, president of UBS Asia Pacific.
-- Pension finance gains attention
At present, private pension rules have been applied across China and China's pension finance market has become a key field for foreign financial institutions to enlarge their business in the country.
Fidelity International, a global wealth management giant that has rich experience in pension management, deemed pension investment one of its critical development strategies in the Chinese market.
Recently, Fidelity International's wholly-owned mutual fund firm in China announced its first fund of funds (FOF) had concluded in advance fund raising and was formally established on January 15.
The FOF product, which raised over 860 million yuan of funds, ranked among the top three in all FOF products issued in the past 12 months in China, showed data with Wind, a financial data provider in China.
As a "touchstone" of pension finance in China, the FOF product marks another milestone in Fidelity International's mutual fund business arrangement in China, according to Helen Huang, board chairman of FIL Fund Management (China) Co., Ltd.
On January 8, global asset management giant Allianz Global Investors GmbH (AllianzGI) was nodded to finance the 228 million yuan of registered capital upsizing of Guomin Pension & Insurance Co., Ltd., one of China's largest private pension players.
After the registered capital expansion, AllianzGI held about two percent stake in Guomin Pension and became the first foreign shareholder of the private pension company established by large Chinese financial institutions.
The Chinese market has incubated enormous opportunities and this investment stands for a milestone event in AllianzGI's long-term development plan for seizing related chances, said the company CEO Tobias C. Pross.
-- Investment diversification accelerates
Since December 2024, several international asset management giants, insurers, and quantitative trading institutions have all cranked up efforts to diversify their investment in China.
Apart from setting foot on China's insurance market, AllianzGI lifted the registered capital of its wholly-owned fund firm in China to 600 million yuan in December last year. Similarly, Neuberger Berman Fund Management (China) Ltd. upsized its registered capital to 550 million yuan.
In PE sector, London-headquartered quantitative hedge fund Aspect Capital Ltd. completed registration of its wholly-funded Aspect Capital (China) Ltd. in December 2024 and so far, there are more than 30 foreign-funded PE institutions in China.
Market players believed that compared with traditional PE firms, foreign quantitative PE institutions possess certain advantages in adjusting strategies and adapting to changes in the market and policy environment in China.
Along with debut of a series of high-level financial opening up measures, it is more convenient for foreign financial institutions to start or expand business in China, which in turn helps them share dividends from the growing Chinese economy, according to experts.
(Edited by Duan Jing with Xinhua Silk Road, duanjing@xinhua.org)
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