Edinburgh-headquartered Baillie Gifford’s Shanghai-based wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) last Friday received approval to launch a qualified domestic limited partnership (QDLP) product, according to records from the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).
The fund, the Baillie Gifford Overseas Long-term Global Growth Private Securities Investment Fund, is the firm’s first QDLP product. Baillie Gifford obtained its QDLP license in January this year.
Launched in 2013, the QDLP scheme allows licensed foreign asset managers to raise renminbi-denominated sums from qualified individual and institutions in China, with assigned quotas, to invest in offshore traditional and alternative investments.
FSA sought more information from the firm, but it was unable to provide more details in time for publication.
In total, around 45 QDLP strategies managed by 32 foreign asset managers have been approved by the AMAC, according to records from the association.
TEAM EXPANSION
On top of its QDLP qualification, Baillie Gifford’s WFOE also holds a PFM licence. Like QDLP funds, PFM products are offered to domestic qualified investors but invest in the domestic onshore market.
The firm received its PFM licence in September last year and received regulatory approval for its first PFM product in November.
Until last year, Baillie Gifford’s global investment teams have all been based in Edinburgh. But when it received its PFM qualification in 2020, it relocated three of its staff to Shanghai to deepen existing relationships with Chinese companies.
Investment manager John MacDougall, who joined Baillie Gifford in 2000 and has been a partner since 2016, relocated to Shanghai and assumed the role of chairman and chief strategy officer for the China business.
Linda Lin, who grew up in Chongqing, returned to China as head of investment research after spending six years with Baillie Gifford in Edinburgh. In addition, investment manager Rio Tu, who was originally from Hubei province, was also relocated to Shanghai after spending five years in the firm’s headquarters.
Baillie Gifford has also been recruiting local people for roles in operations, investment research, trading, compliance, business development and marketing.
