Singapore-headquartered iFast Group’s wholly foreign-owned subsidiary (WFOE) in Shanghai has received approval from the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) to launch its first private fund management (PFM) product in the mainland, according to records from the association.
A PFM licence enables foreign entities to develop and sell funds investing in onshore assets to domestic qualified investors, which include institutional and high net worth investors.
The iFast Huishi FOF Private Securities Fund is a fund-of-funds (FOF) that invests in a portfolio of Chinese public and private fund products, according to Keith Neo, general manager of iFast China.
iFast in China has been operating since 2014 in the country, but like its other operations in Singapore and Hong Kong, its business initially started with the distribution of fund products, including PFM funds managed by other firms. The firm obtained its PFM licence in September last year, with plans of offering discretionary portfolio management (DPM) solutions to clients.
“iFast in China had been managing non-discretionary model fund portfolios since 2016. This FOF is an upgrade to the fund portfolios as it provides active management through discretionary service and is able to invest in a bigger universe of underlying assets,” Neo told FSA.
He added that the firm intends to focus on offering FOFs in China, which is similar to the DPM services offered in other markets that the group operates in.
The firm’s assets under administration (AUA) in China stood at RMB 1.39bn ($215) as of the end of 2020, which is 170.5% higher compared to 2019, according to the firm’s annual results.
In total, iFast Group’s AUA reached a record high of S$14.45bn ($10.87bn), representing a year-on-year increase of 44.5%.
