Wholly foreign-owned public fund management companies in China have launched a series of new products since the beginning of this year, in efforts to tap into the country's growing asset management market that has kept opening up wider to foreign investment.
Since January, a total of nine wholly foreign-owned public fund managers in China, including Neuberger Berman, Fidelity, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management, have launched a range of 31 new products, with a total issuance scale of about 35.9 billion yuan (around 5 billion U.S. dollars). The number of new products has increased by 138 percent year on year, while the issuance scale has grown by 43 percent.
Bond funds have emerged as a key focus for these foreign-owned asset management firms, with new launches covering a range of subcategories such as medium-to-long-term pure bond funds, hybrid bond funds, and passive bond index funds.
In the equity field, foreign management firms are also rolling out enhanced index funds, reflecting growing confidence in China's long-term stock market potential.
"Earlier this year, we launched two new public funds, including China's first index-enhanced public fund based on the CSI A500 Index, which reflects China's new quality productive forces. The fund raised over 1.4 billion yuan (around 195.1 million U.S. dollars) in its initial offering," said Xu Yixian, deputy general manager of Neuberger Berman Fund Management (China) Co., Ltd.
Launched last year, the CSI A500 is a stock index that embraces leading firms from emerging sectors, aiming to better represent China's high-quality growth and offer options for investors seeking medium- to long-term exposure to China's economy and stock market.
Global fund managers are also moving quickly to tap into the popular Hong Kong stock market through Stock Connect, a mutual market access program through which investors in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong can invest in stocks and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in each other's markets.
"In June, we launched a fund that invests in the Hong Kong stock market through Stock Connect schemes, focusing specifically on sectors related to new quality productive forces," said Meng Qiao, Fidelity's Investment Strategy Director.
Foreign-owned public funds expand in China with over 30 new products since beginning of 2025
