Fidelity Beats Global Peers to Start First Private Fund in China

(Bloomberg) -- Fidelity International became the first global asset manager to start a private fund in China.

The fund, which opened today, will mainly invest in Chinese onshore bonds and be sold to eligible Chinese institutions and rich individuals in private placements, Fidelity said in an emailed statement.

The opening up of China's fund industry offers opportunities for foreign money managers facing challenges at home. Since January, the nation has allowed foreign companies to register to become managers of private funds.

Fidelity, which manages $279 billion of assets, has had a China presence since 2004, and set up a wholly-owned Shanghai unit in September 2015 to tap the private fund market. In January this year, it became the first global asset manager to register with the Asset Management Association of China as a manager of private placement funds.

Private placement funds registered with the industry group oversaw nearly 3.5 trillion yuan ($505 billion) by 2015, according to a report posted on the association's website. Their investments can range from venture capital to publicly-listed stocks.

Fidelity's fund will be managed by Freddy Wong, who moved to Shanghai from Hong Kong in March, it said.

Fidelity International was set up in 1969 as the international arm of Fidelity Investments, becoming independent of the Boston-based company's U.S. business in 1980.

--With assistance from Judy Chen

To contact the reporter on this story: Bei Hu in Hong Kong at bhu5@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net, Paul Panckhurst