China’s insurance regulator has issued its third warning in just nine days, announcing a clampdown on life insurers just weeks after the high-profile sacking of its top official in a corruption scandal that rocked the industry.
Chinese financial services group HNA has become the biggest shareholder in Deutsche Bank after increasing its stake to just under 10%, overtaking the Qatar royal family and BlackRock.
China Pacific Insurance Co. (CPIC), the country’s third largest life insurer, has bought a 51% stake in Chinese fund management company GTJA Allianz Fund Management and will share ownership of the firm with Germany’s Allianz.
The path to success in China for foreign fund management companies lies in joint ventures with local firms, even though wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOE) can now launch investment products on the mainland, says Xianzhou Jiang, vice chairman and chief executive of China Construction Bank (Asia).
The chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) was removed from his post on Monday night for suspected “serious disciplinary violations”, a term covering abuses from graft to financial misconduct.
UBS Asset Management has launched a Hong Kong mutual fund platform, setting sights on distribution into the onshore China market, said Markus Egloff, head of wholesale client coverage for Asia ex-Japan.
China’s insurance regulator is looking to tighten its grip on the industry as one of its top officials faces a corruption inquiry into a wave of blockbuster global deals that are raising concerns about financial risk in the world’s second-largest economy.
Old Mutual is reportedly pulling out of China after putting its stake in a joint venture with a local life insurer up for sale.
Harvest Global Investments (HGI), the international arm China’s Harvest Fund Management, has launched its first Ucits-compliant sub-fund, Harvest China Evolution Equity Fund.
The threat of protectionist US policies has weakened the yuan and caused concerns among some investors, but a more protectionist stance from the US might actually benefit China.
Index provider MSCI has outlined new proposals designed to overcome issues preventing it from adding the shares of mainland Chinese companies to several key equity indexes, which should effectively allow a limited number of stocks to be included.
With improved conditions in emerging markets set to continue, economic growth in the sector is poised to accelerate, says Gonzalo Pangaro, lead fund manager of T Rowe Price’s Emerging Markets Equity Fund.
