Winton Capital’s wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) in Shanghai has received approval to launch an onshore strategy via its private fund management (PFM) platform, according to records from the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).
Having 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 Winton China Multi No 6 Private Securities Investment Fund will be the quant specialist’s 11th PFM product managed in the mainland, the records show.
FSA sought more information from the firm, but it was unable to provide more details in time for publication.
Winton Capital has become one of the few foreign PFMs that have become successful in fundraising. To date, only Winton Capital, UBS Asset Management and DE Shaw (which has launched only one PFM strategy), have each raised assets of around RMB 2bn-5bn ($304.4m-$761m), according to data provided by research firm Cerulli Associates.
“For Winton Capital, it remains to be one of the largest PFM foreign managers, largely leveraging on its commodity trading advisor (CTA) capabilities,” Ye Kangting, senior analyst at Cerulli Associates, told FSA.
“Local investors generally perceive foreign managers’ CTA strategies to be more experienced when dealing with futures and developing quantitative strategies, compared to their domestic counterparts.”
Winton Capital has been building its track record in China since 2010 and has been providing advisory services to Hwabao WP Fund Management’s segregated accounts since 2012, she added.
Meanwhile, twenty-one managers are estimated to only have PFM assets of below RMB 500m, despite several of them launching multiple products, including Azimut (seven funds), Schroders (six) and Mirae Asset Global Investments (four), the data shows.
In total, there are around 33 foreign asset managers holding PFM licences managing at least 110 products in China, according to data from AMAC.
