Value Partners’s wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) in Shanghai received regulatory approval last week to launch a private fund management (PFM) product in China, according to records from the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).
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.
Value Partners has been active in launching PFMs in the mainland. The latest fund, the Value Partners China Fengtai No 3 Private Securities Investment Fund, is the firm’s 13th PFM product. It also follows the roll-out of another PFM last month co-launched with asset and wealth manager China Foreign Economy Trade Trust Company (FOTIC), which is wholly-owned by Sinochem Group.
Value Partners is the second foreign asset manager managing the most number of PFM products, trailing UBS Asset Management, which manages 17 PFM funds.
FSA sought more information from Value Partners, but the firm declined to provide more details.
Foreign firms have been active in rolling out PFM funds in China. This year alone, products managed by Los Angeles-headquartered William O’Neil, Milan-based Azimut Group and Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments also received AMAC approval to launch PFM products.
In total, there are around 33 foreign asset managers holding PFM licences managing at least 110 products in China, according to data from AMAC.
Established in 1993, Hong Kong-based Value Partners managed $14.8bn in assets as of the end of January this year, according to the firm’s website.
