Manulife Asset Management received a green light from the Securities and Futures Commission to launch three funds to retail investors: the Asia Pacific REIT Fund, the China Total Return Bond Fund and the Preferred Securities Income Fund, according to records from the regulator.
This year alone, the firm has registered four funds, which includes the Greater Bay Area Growth & Income Segregated Portfolio that was launched last week. In total, the firm manages 40 retail mutual funds in Hong Kong, according to SFC records.
In Hong Kong, the firm had HK$391bn ($49.8bn) in assets under management and administration as of the end of June, but the majority of that is in the firm’s pension schemes, Guy Mills, Hong Kong-based CEO at Manulife International, said at a media briefing last month.
A Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for the firm declined further comment on the three funds.
Capital Group
Separately, US-based Capital Group launched this month a US-focused multi-asset income fund, the Capital Income Builder, which is a Luxembourg-domiciled Ucits fund, according to a statement from the firm.
The fund, which received SFC approval in August, follows the same approach of the firm’s $100bn multi-asset income strategy in the US, the statement said.
The firm said the launch of the fund is in-line with plans to sell funds in Hong Kong that were only previously available to US-based investors, it added.
The multi-asset fund is the second product that the firm launched in Hong Kong this year. In February, the firm began selling a Luxembourg-domiciled global corporate bond fund.
In total, Capital Group sells 23 mutual funds in Hong Kong, according to SFC records. Nine of those funds received approval from the regulator to be launched last year, while the remaining 12 received the green light in 2016.
In 2015, the firm announced it would expand in the region. Plans include extending distribution to the retail investor and financial intermediary segments, introducing strategies to these market segments and boosting its investment management and research personnel in the region.
Launches in downmarkets
Despite the poor performance of markets this year, other firms have gone ahead and launched products. This month, T Rowe Price registered three funds with the SFC, while HSBC Global Asset Management received approval for four fixed income funds in July.
In March alone, the regulator issued approvals for 24 funds. The bulk came from four asset managers: Eight from Blackrock, six from HSBC Global AM, four from Allianz Global Investors and four from Alliance Bernstein.
Year-to-date, the regulator has approved a total of 62 mutual funds in Hong Kong.
For the full year 2017, when global markets were buoyant, the SFC approved only 94 funds.
