Another international firm pushes into the Chinese market.

Neuberger Berman, the US investment house, has won registration in China for its wholly-owned foreign enterprise in the country, allowing to raise assets directly from qualified investors in mainland China.

Regulatory blessing has been granted to Neuberger Berman Investment Management (Shanghai) Limited from the Asset Management Association of China.

Investors affected by the regulatory green light include qualified high-net-worth individuals and local institutions.

“We are committed to building a leading investment management firm in China, offering our customized product solutions in equities, fixed income, multi-asset, quantitative investing and alternatives," Patrick Liu, head of China, Neuberger Berman, said.

The announcement came out on the same day that Canada's Manulife Asset Management launched a wholly-owned investment business in Shanghai, joining a number of overseas firms to have pushed into the market. 

Neuberger Berman already manages investment portfolios for various leading Chinese institutional and intermediary customers investing in equity, fixed income and private equity strategies. Earlier this year, the firm appointed local equity portfolio manager, Bin Yu, and his team, and also expanded equity research coverage for global and emerging market managers investing in China. Separately, Peter Ru joined the firm in Shanghai as a senior portfolio manager, responsible for developing the firm's China fixed income capabilities.

“China represents a tremendous opportunity for us and we are committed to adding local resources across different functions including portfolio management, legal and compliance, marketing and research,” Nick Hoar, head of Asia Pacific, Neuberger Berman, said.

The firm manages $284 billion in client assets (as of 30 September).