The Luxembourg domiciled UCITs compliant fund has already seen ‘considerable investor demand’ according to Pictet.
The fund is managed by Cary Yeung, who joined Pictet AM last year from Taikang Asset Management. Yeung is supported locally by Jennifer Chang, a senior credit analyst and Echo Chen, a specialist trader in Chinese debt.
The fund’s investment universe is China’s onshore bond market, which is one of the largest and fastest growing fixed income markets, according to Pictet. The portfolio will mainly be invested in Renminbi-denominated onshore bonds.
“In the current low yield environment, onshore Renminbi bonds offer investors an attractive yield as well as diversification and exposure to a currency with potential for appreciation,” said Yeung.
The fund is currently registered in the UK, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Cyprus, Finland, Greece and Portugal, with other countries to follow.
The launch follows Pictet AM being granted an RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor licence by the China Securities Regulatory Commission in 2014, allowing access to the Chinese onshore equity and fixed income securities markets, including the A-Share equity and onshore bond markets.