Value Partners has received approval from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) last week to launch the Value Partners Health Care Fund to retail investors in Hong Kong, according to the regulator’s website.
The fund invests in Chinese healthcare companies, such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, healthcare services as well as medical technology and supplies, according to its fund factsheet. As of the end of September, 44% of its assets are in China A-shares and 32% in Hong Kong-listed companies.
The Ireland-domiciled fund had been available to professional investors in Hong Kong and Singapore since 2015, according to a spokeswoman of the firm. However, the firm decided to offer the product to retail investors as it expects demand for healthcare products on the back of expected huge growth in the sector.
“With the reforms going on in the China healthcare industry at the moment, we also believe the tipping point for the huge potential growth will be happening soon. Therefore only until recently, the fund is opened up for more investors across various platforms who want to capture the upside,” she said.
The firm expects to launch the fund to retail investors later this year, according to the spokeswoman.
Since its inception in 2015, the fund has returned 72.3%, outperforming its two former benchmarks, the CSI 300 Index (18.96%) and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (0.65%), according to data from FE Fundinfo.
The index of the fund has been changed to MSCI China All Shares Health Care 10/40 Index from 9 Oct 2020, the spokeswoman noted, without elaborating.
The fund’s top five holdings
The Value Partners Health Care Fund vs benchmarks and category average (three-year period)
China Life Franklin Asset Management
Separately, China Life Franklin Asset Management’s Short Term Bond Fund has also received approval from the SFC.
This will be the firm’s second product available to retail investors in Hong Kong, the first one being the China Life Franklin Diversified Income Fund, which received SFC approval in 2014, according to the regulator’s records.
FSA sought more information from the firm, but it was not able to provide more details in time for publication.
China Life Franklin Asset Management was founded in 2007. China Life Asset Management, China Life Overseas and Franklin Templeton hold stakes of 50%, 24%, 26% respectively, according to its website.
As of the end of June 2019, the firm’s AUM was around HK$ 230bn ($29.7bn), according to the website.
