The rout in the Chinese stock markets last month has not been bad news for everyone. Hong Kong-based asset manager Value Partners saw net profits jump 217% in the first half of the year to HK$446 million ($57.2 million).
The firm – which gets about half its revenues from management fees – also saw its assets under management (AUM) swell by 38% to $17.8 billion. This puts Value Partners well on track to reaching its target of doubling AUM over the next five to 10 years to $20 billion from $1o million last September.
While Value Partners did see its stock tumble 58% last month, from its previous peak in May, business in China has been booming as a result of the firm working with the likes of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to offer bank customers cross-border and outbound investments.
Now Value Partners wants to introduce its funds to investors on the Mainland under the China-Hong Kong Mutual Recognition of Funds (MRF). This will make it easier to sell directly to Chinese retail investors clamoring to invest professionally managed funds after being spooked by the blow-up in July when the Shanghai Composite Index lost 30% in just three weeks.
Photo: groucho