For the first quarter of 2019, E Fund Management ranks number one in terms of AUM, followed by Bosera Asset Management and China AMC, according to the Asset Management Association of China (Amac). The data excludes money market funds.
Ten of the firms are foreign joint ventures, largely with European partners. China officially removed foreign ownership limits of domestic asset management firms this month and it is expected that some of these joint venture partners will seek majority stakes.
China’s top 20 mutual fund firms by AUM (RMB bn)
| 1Q 2019 Rank | Firm | 1Q 2019 Avg AUM |
1Q 2018 rank |
1Q 2018 Avg AUM | Foreign joint venture status |
| 1 | E Fund Management | 276.2 | 1 | 265.0 | — |
| 2 | Bosera Asset Management | 263.9 | 4 | 219.3 | — |
| 3 | China Asset Management Company | 239.9 | 3 | 222.5 | Power Corporation of Canada holds 27.8% |
| 4 | China Southern Fund Management | 216.0 | 8 | 179.9 | — |
| 5 | GF Fund Management | 212.8 | 5 | 210.4 | — |
| 6 | Harvest Fund Management | 204.7 | 7 | 190.5 | DWS holds 30% |
| 7 | Bank of China Fund Management | 189.8 | 2 | 255.8 | Blackrock holds 17% |
| 8 | China Merchants Fund Management | 183.3 | 9 | 148.1 | — |
| 9 | China Universal Asset Management | 182.2 | 6 | 195.7 | — |
| 10 | Fullgoal Fund Management | 144.5 | 11 | 137.9 | BMO holds 27.8% |
| 11 | ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management | 141.2 | 12 | 129.0 | Credit Suisse holds 20% |
| 12 | Huaan Fund Management | 123.7 | 13 | 119.7 | — |
| 13 | CCB Principal Asset Management | 117.3 | 10 | 140.7 | — |
| 14 | Penghua Fund Management | 116.5 | Not present | Eurizon Capital holds 49% | |
| 15 | Aegon-Industrial Fund Management | 115.0 | 14 | 118.0 | Aegon holds 49% |
| 16 | ABC-CA Fund Management | 105.5 | 15 | 102.96 | Amundi Asset Management holds 33.3% |
| 17 | Orient Securities Asset Management | 95.8 | 19 | 82.8 | — |
| 18 | Ping An Fund Management | 90.7 | Not present | UOB Asset Management holds 25% | |
| 19 | Guotai Asset Management | 88.8 | 17 | 88.5 | Generali holds 30% |
| 20 | Yinhua Fund Management | 88.5 | 18 | 83.6 | — |
| Total | 3,196.3 | 2,890.36 |
Source: Asset Management Association of China. Ex-money market funds.
Money-market dominance
By category, money market funds continue to account for the lion’s share of onshore AUM. As of the first quarter of 2019, money market funds comprised about 60% of China’s $1.89trn (RMB 12.97trn) open-end mutual fund industry according to data from the Amac.
By comparison, in June 2017 the size of China’s open-end mutual fund industry was RMB 9.36trn and money market funds accounted for around 55%.
China’s financial regulator is seeking tighter rules for money market funds. In March, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) drafted a consultation paper to further strengthen regulation on the liquidity management of money market funds, according to a Fitch Ratings report.
In Hong Kong, authorised money-market funds only account for about 1.6% or $22.7bn of the $1.43trn mutual fund market, according to data from the Securities and Futures Commission.
China’s asset classes by AUM
| Fund | 2019 Assets (RMB bn) | 2019 Market share | 2018 Assets (RMB bn) | 2018 Market share |
| Equity funds | 997 | 7.6% | 784.8 | 6.7% |
| Mixed funds | 1,580 | 12% | 1,714.3 | 14.7% |
| Money-market funds | 7,861.4 | 60.6% | 7,321.9 | 62.86% |
| Bond funds | 2,449.1 | 18.9% | 1,735.4 | 14.9% |
| QDII funds | 80.2 | 0.6% | 91.0 | 0.78% |
| Total (open-end) | 12,967.9 | 11,647.4 |
Source: Asset Management Association of China
