Fidelity International claims it has achieved a milestone as the first global asset manager to launch a private fund in mainland China.
The Fidelity China Bond No. 1 Private Fund, investing in onshore bonds, was launched by the company's wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE), set up in Shanghai in September 2015.
“We are thrilled to be the first global asset manager to launch a private fund in China,” said Mark Talbot, managing director, Asia Pacific.
Fidelity was able to launch the fund because it
registered as a private fund company with the Asset Management Association of China in January of this year. It was the first global asset manager to do so.
At the time, Z-Ben Advisors, a consultancy, said the registration meant, “we have now entered the territory where global managers can run money in China on their own”.
Freddy Wong, who joined Fidelity International in 2002, will manage the fund from Shanghai, supported by a team of credit analysts and bond traders recruited locally.
China's onshore bond market is estimated to be worth 65 trillion renminbi ($9.4 billion) by Wind Information, a data provider. By 2020, China is forecast to overtake Japan's as the world second-largest bond market.
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