First wholly foreign-owned mutual fund settles in Lujiazui

BlackRock, the world's largest investment management firm, was approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Aug 28 to set up a wholly-owned mutual fund unit in Lujiazui, Pudong New Area.

It is the first global asset management company to earn regulatory approval and has a registered capital of 300 million yuan ($ 43.47 million). Its business in the region will involve management of mutual funds and private assets, securities sales, and more.

According to the requirements of the top securities regulator, BlackRock will set up its office in Lujiazui within six months of being approved and begin issuing mutual funds within six months of acquiring its business certificate.

China announced on Oct 11, 2019 that it would eliminate foreign ownership restrictions on securities and mutual fund companies on April 1 this year.

BlackRock, along with the 81-year-old asset management firm Neuberger Berman, applied for permission to set up mutual fund operations in China that very day, with administrative procedures for the latter still underway.

Neuberger Berman set up operations in Shanghai in 2016. During the Lujiazui Forum in June, Andrew Komaroff, the company's chief operating officer, said that Shanghai has been an essential market for Neuberger Berman and that more than 25 percent of the company's annual income over the past five years has come from China.

According to the Lujiazui administration, more than 60 global asset management institutions have set up nearly 90 businesses in the area, accounting for more than 90 percent of the country's total.

Twenty-three of 26 foreign-funded asset management companies that acquired private fund management licenses in China operate in Lujiazui.