The Asset Management Association of China (Amac) awarded the private fund management (PFM) licence to Robeco’s wholly-foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE), Robeco Private Fund Management (Shanghai), on 27 September.
“With the PFM licence in place, we are looking to launching our first onshore Chinese equities fund targeting qualified investors,” Jin Mei, Robeco’s head of China, told FSA.
“We will capitalise on our expertise in sustainable investing, quantitative investing, trends investing, credits investing and emerging markets investing to introduce more diversified offerings in our China onshore investment strategies,” he added.
The PFM licence enables foreign asset managers to offer onshore China products investing in the domestic markets to qualified mainland individuals.
“China is of strategic importance for Robeco and obtaining a PFM licence is the next step of our planned development in China,” said Jin.
The Shanghai office comprises 11 staff, including five investment professionals, and is led by Jin and supported by Lu Jie as head of investments China.
Previously general manager of Franklin Templeton’s WFOE, Jin was hired for his current role last March.
Strategic goals
Netherlands-based Robeco set up an office in China in 2007 to focus on institutional investors, and established a WFOE in 2015. It gained qualified domestic limited partner (QDLP) approval in 2018, which allows the firm to sell offshore products directly to qualified investors, including high-net-worth investors.
Robeco has been investing in Chinese equities since 1990 and it launched its first offshore China equity strategy about twenty years ago. So far, it has launched just one QDLP strategy, the Robeco Universal Consumption New Trend Equity Overseas Private Investment Fund, according to records from Amac.
The firm has integrated decarbonisation commitments into its Chinese equities strategies and launched an Asian sustainable equity strategy in 2020, according to Lu.
As of the end of June, Robeco managed €200bn ($233bn) in assets, of which around €160bn is committed to ESG integration, according to the firm.
Robeco launched its first sustainable equity strategy in 1995, and was among the first to apply the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals to its investment framework.
