Seattle-headquartered Russell Investments’s wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) in Shanghai has received regulatory approval to launch its first private fund management (PFM) product, the Russell Taiheng Multi Growth FOF Private Securities Investment Fund, according to records from the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).
This move comes after the firm was granted a PFM license in February last year, which enables foreign entities to develop and sell funds investing in onshore assets to domestic qualified investors, which include institutional and high net worth investors.
“We believe the opening-up of China’s capital market will provide more opportunities to global asset managers and companies like us. After years of practice and research in this market, we have considered China as one of the most important markets,” Tan Ying, Shanghai-based president and general manager at Russell Investment Management (Shanghai) told FSA previously.
FSA sought more information from the firm, but it was unable to provide more details in time for publication.
Before establishing its WFOE in 2015, the US firm had a public fund management joint venture with Ping An, which was established in 2011.
However, the joint venture ended “in failure with the JV dissolved after just four years due to intense strife between the shareholders” of both firms, Peter Alexander, managing director at Z-Ben Advisers, said previously.
Russell Investments “quietly withdrew” from the joint venture because it believed that Ping An would benefit more than Russell, according to a Reuters report in 2015, quoting unnamed sources.
UBS AM
Separately, UBS Asset Management’s Shanghai-based WFOE last week received approval to launch the UBS (CN) China Customized Equity Private Securities Investment Fund Series 2, according to AMAC records.
In total, UBS AM manages 17 PFM products, which is the largest number among all foreign asset managers, followed by Hong Kong-based Value Partners which has 11 PFM funds.
The new product, which is targeted to high net worth clients, was launched on 9 December, according to a UBS AM spokeswoman.
“The fund is a customised product based on channel and customer needs, which inclines to invest in industry leaders that would benefit from China’s structural growth and transition from an investment-driven to services-led economy,” she told FSA.
The spokeswoman also noted that there are other PFM products in the pipeline this year.
In total, there are around 30 foreign asset managers that have been granted PFM licences, with around 100 products having been approved by the AMAC.
