Pictet AM, the asset management arm of Geneva-based Pictet Group, first opened its Shanghai WFOE, Pictet Private Fund Management, in November 2020. The QDLP license will enable it to develop and offer QDLP products to qualified investors in China, to invest in the firm’s offshore strategies.
The QDLP scheme allows licensed foreign asset managers to raise renminbi-denominated sums from qualified individuals and institutions in China, with assigned quotas, to invest in offshore traditional and alternative investments, including overseas equity and bond funds, hedge funds and real estate. The scheme was first launched as pilot in Shanghai in 2013.
“The Amac registration marks another milestone in our long-term commitment to the China market and the continued expansion of our business footprint,” Junjie Watkins, Pictet AM’s CEO of Asia ex Japan, said in a statement.
About 50 global asset managers have received QDLP licenses in Shanghai as of last year, including Blackrock, Man Group and UBS, according to the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau. In late April 2021, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said that it will double the quota for the Shanghai QDLP pilot by $5bn to $10bn in total.
The Amac website shows that Pictet Private Fund Management (Shanghai)’s legal representative is Chen Mengen, and that the entity has two registered two executives and five employees. Its registered capital is was RMB 5mn ($771,629), and its paid-in capital was RMB 2.5mn.
Pictet AM has been investing onshore for global clients via several programmes, such as the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) programme, Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, Bond Connect and China Interbank Bond Market (CIBM) Direct Access.
The firm has also been cooperating with onshore global banks under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme. In July 2020, Pictet AM launched its first northbound fund under the Mutual Recognition of Funds (MRF) scheme.
Pictet AM oversees $274bn for its clients across a range of equity, fixed income, multi asset and alternative strategies, according to the firm. It currently has about 900 employees located in 18 offices across the world, of which around a third are investment professionals, as at 30 June 2021.
