Hong Kong-domiciled products managed by Bosera Asset Management International, JP Morgan Asset Management and Value Partners, have received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) this month to sell their products in the mainland via the Mutual Recognition of Funds programme.
The fund approvals come at a time when northbound products in total had positive flows for nine consecutive months this year, with year-to-date net inflows of RMB 7.64bn ($1.08bn).
Bosera International, the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Shenzhen-based Bosera Asset Management, filed the application for the Bosera-Aberdeen Standard Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund with the CSRC in 2018.
The emerging market bond fund, which has $41.06m in assets, is sub-managed by Aberdeen Standard Investments and was launched in Hong Kong in 2016, according to its fund factsheet.
Although this is the first northbound product that Bosera International will be offering under the MRF, it launched three southbound funds (China-domiciled) managed by its parent firm in 2016.
Excluding money-market funds, Bosera AM in China is the second-largest public mutual management firm, with assets of around RMB 286bn ($40.7bn), according to data from Morningstar Direct.
In Hong Kong, Bosera International manages five SFC-authorised funds, which collectively have around $71m in assets.
Meanwhile, JP Morgan AM ‘s Pacific Technology Fund was also approved for northbound distribution under the MRF scheme, CSRC records show.
The fund was launched in Hong Kong in 1997 and has assets of around $140m, according to FE Fundinfo data.
The firm already received two MRF approvals in January this year. In total, the firm has five northbound MRF funds. It is still waiting for one more product, the Asia Growth Fund, to be approved for northbound distribution, CSRC data shows.
JP Morgan AM’s Chinese joint venture, China International Fund Management (CIFM), will continue to act as the firm’s local representative and master agent to distribute the fund in the mainland, according to a statement from the firm.
Value Partners’ High Dividend Stocks Fund is also one of the latest products to be added under the MRF, CSRC records show. The Asia-focused strategy, which was launched in Hong Kong in 2012, has assets of around $2.3bn, according to FE Fundinfo data.
This is Value Partners’ second MRF product to be approved by the regulator. The firm joined the MRF programme in December last year with its Classic Fund. At the time, the firm partnered with Tianhong Asset Management for distribution.
This year, the CSRC approved five Hong Kong-domiciled products for mainland distribution under the MRF. Since the programme began in 2015, 20 northbound products have been approved by China’s regulator.
