Fidelity has cracked the top five in Broadridge’s biannual China Power Ranking, a survey of the top performing asset managers in mainland China.
The Bermuda-headquartered asset manager jumped one place, knocking Invesco down to sixth.
Broadridge noted that in addition to its more balanced mutual fund launches across equity, fixed income and mixed assets, its local fund management company (FMC) recently increased its registered capital to $160m, the largest among any foreign asset manager.
The only other change in the top 10 saw Morgan Stanley Investment Management (Morgan Stanley IM) swap places with Manulife Asset Management (Manulife AM) to finish eighth and ninth respectively.
Broadridge noted that both Morgan Stanley IM and Manulife AM actually enjoyed better overall scores.
Outside the top 10, Neuber Berman advanced two spots to 12th, with higher scores across multiple areas including branding, China AUM and local operational strength, while AllianceBernstein jumped six spots to 16th.
The China Power Ranking ranks foreign asset managers across six criteria, namely China AUM, extent of business scope (in other words licences they own), local operational strength (in which 100% owned FMCs receive the highest scores), brand perception (based on a survey of retail investors and interviews with fund buyers), global investment strength (global AUM of the firm), and China as a priority (including the extent to which the C-suite are talking about a China strategy).
Broadridge noted that owning a 100% FMC in China was crucial with all nine global managers that have one securing positions in the top 20.
Broadridge also noted that while US-based asset managers have mostly ploughed ahead with launching FMCs, European firms have taken a more nuanced approach, for example 10th-placed ranked Amundi has not decided on an FMC and has instead recently set up a fintech subsidiary in Shanghai.
Broadridge noted that JP Morgan Asset Management, which remained the number one ranked firm, has been active in product development, rolling out multiple fixed-income products as well as introducing a smart beta ETF and ESG-leaning CSI A50 ETF.
Broadridge added that the enhanced product development along with other rebranding efforts has bolstered the firm’s brand score, particularly among professional fund buyers.
Meanwhile, BlackRock remained in second place, even though it experienced a decline in its overall score due to brand strength challenges linked to underperforming product returns.
