The latest reports indicate that BlackRock is getting ready to take on its first test of Chinese investor appetite for its mutual fund products. This advancement comes after over 15 years since BlackRock entered the world’s biggest and most promising wealth market.
Its new China unit is reportedly launching its debut product barely two months after winning regulatory approval to become the country’s first entirely foreign-owned mutual fund company. BlackRock’s wealth management joint venture with Singapore’s Temasek and China Construction Bank Corporation also stated earlier that it acquired authorization to start a quant equity offering in the short term.
The biggest money manager in the world is currently leading a global foray into China’s $15.4tn asset management sector after the regulators eased restrictions on foreign control in 2020. It faces a huge challenge appealing to the yield-hungry Chinese retail investors in an already crowded market that is dominated by local companies, despite the surging demand offering a promising and attractive entry point.
Sun Guiping, an analyst at Shanghai Securities Co, said in recent months:
“Fund launches are rising steadily and have stayed at high levels. BlackRock’s first fund is coming right in time to catch a big wave of launches in the second half of the year.”
The new mutual funds have already raised a staggering 2 trillion yuan this year for the period ending August 18, already the second-highest annual amount ever, just trailing 2020’s record of 3.1 trillion yuan. That total includes up to 19 products that netted over 10 billion yuan in their initial launch.
