The Shanghai Oaktree Phase Two Overseas Private Investment Fund yesterday received approval from Asset Management Association of China (Amac), according to its website.
The firm now manages two qualified domestic limited partnership (QDLP) products in total. The first product, the Shanghai Oaktree Phase I Overseas Investment Fund Partnership received approval from Amac in 2016.
The QDLP programme allows foreign managers to raise money in China, with assigned quotas, to invest in offshore traditional and alternative investments, including overseas equity and bond funds, hedge funds and property.
China has been cautious about issuing QDLP quota because the programme takes money offshore and capital outflows could impact the value of the RMB.
This move comes after the firm established its wholly-foreign owned enterprise (WFOE) in Beijing last month, with a registered capital of $5.42m.
As for the firm’s WFOE in Shanghai, Oaktree Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) was established in 2013 and registered with the Amac as a QDLP firm in 2014, Amac record shows.
However, unlike many other asset managers, the firm does not have a private fund management (PFM) license in the mainland which enables foreign entities to develop and sell funds investing in onshore assets to domestic qualified investors, including institutional and high net worth investors, Amac records show.
Oaktree has an office in Hong Kong, with three licenses, including dealing in securities (type 1) that the firm obtained in 2007, advising on securities (type 4) and asset management (type 9) which were both granted in 2006, according to records from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
However, the firm does not have SFC-authorised funds. In Singapore, it provides eight products for accredited investors, according to FE Fundinfo.
FSA sought more information from Oaktree Capital, but the firm declined to provide more details about the product.
Other foreign firms which have received the approval for QDLP products this year include Eastspring and Allianz.
Founded in 1995, Oaktree Capital manages $120bn. The firm entered into China’s non-performing loan market in 2015 and now manages around $6.5bn in non-performing loan assets in China.
Globally, the firm manages credit, real assets, private equity and listed equities strategies. The firm’s other Asia offices are in Tokyo, Singapore and Seoul, the firm’s website shows.
