The approval of QDLP status enables Grow Investment Group to provide qualified investors in China with QDLP fund products in multiple asset and currency classes, and across several investment regions.
The asset manager may invest raised capital funds in overseas markets, through overseas investment products, and across global allocation channels for qualified domestic investors, according to a statement by the firm.
Grow is headquartered in Shanghai, and manages around RMB 10bn ($1.4bn) of AUM globally. It has branches and offices in Beijing, Hainan, and Hong Kong, among other cities.
In September 2021 and September 2022, Lighthouse, a US hedge fund and Julius Baer, a Swiss private bank, respectively made strategic investments in Grow. In the past year, Julius Baer and Grow have exchanged visits, held monthly discussions on market status, product business, and customer service. The two sides are actively exploring additional collaborative opportunities together.
The award of the QDLP licence was “thanks to the institutional advantages of Hainan Free Trade Port, the correct guidance from relevant government departments in Hainan Province, and the strong support from Grow’s overseas strategic institutional shareholders, Julius Baer Group and Lighthouse,” said William Ma, founding partner and global chief investment officer of Grow Investment Group, in a statement.
In terms of product composition, Grow has developed a product matrix for all global asset categories, including progressive fund of funds (FOF), CTA quantitative funds, convertible bond funds, and overseas FOFs, centred around the concept of “global, dispersed and stable” asset allocation.
Through the selection of managers at home and abroad, the Group aims to achieve market leading investment performance, said the asset manager.
After obtaining the QDLP qualification, Grow intends to link various domestic and foreign resources, and to assist in the development and construction of Hainan Free Trade Port.
“We will leverage the professional capabilities of Grow’s investment team, establish deeper links with mainland high net worth clients through Grow’s multi-family office network, and strive to become a benchmark asset management platform for QDLP, thereby contributing our own strength to the globalisation of China’s capital market,” said Ma.
The Group’s founders had previously set up an Asian hedge fund and a global perpetual renminbi fund at one of the largest independent wealth management companies in China before founding Grow Investment Group. The founding team have work experience at leading global asset management institutions including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
