On 27 January, the Asset Management Association of China (Amac), a quasi-government entity, issued an official statement calling on “capable and willing” fund houses to provide assistance to coronavirus-infected areas.
In two days since, 70 mutual fund houses are among the firms that have made donations, which total RMB 304.7m ($43.9m), according to a statement from Amac.
At the same time, private equity fund managers and venture capital fund managers also donated RMB 648m, an increase of RMB 263m than the day before, the statement noted.
Amac, an official agency that requires registration from all fund groups and issues licences to foreign fund houses, has made a list of donors on their website to clearly identify firms who have responded to the call.
Most of the firms are domestic. However, the fund houses with Hong Kong offices include China Asset Management, which has donated RMB 2m and E Fund Management and Harvest Fund Management, which gave RMB 5m each.
Foreign joint ventures are also on the donor’s list. For example, ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management and Invesco Great Wall Fund Management each donated RMB 2m and BOCOM Schroders provided RMB 3m.
Moreover, some asset managers are also donating materials, including 19.6 million masks, 1.89 million pieces of medical supplies, 10,000 disposable surgical gowns, etc, which are valued at around RMB 150m.
FSA contacted the Amac for more information but it was unable to reply in time for publication.
Separately, even though the coronavirus is spreading widely and quickly, Vanguard believes that China’s prompt and internationally coordinated response this time may offer some reassurance that the human and economic effects can be limited.
“Therefore, Vanguard has maintained its outlook for China’s 2020 GDP growth at 5.8%, though the risk is clearly tilting toward the downside,” Qian Wang, the firm’s Asia-Pacific chief economist, said in a client note.
“While the coronavirus threatens growth in the near term, Vanguard foresees the potential for a rebound in the second half of the year amid anticipated government stimulus,” Wang added.
