The joint venture officially starts this month, having received regulatory blessing in China. The move is part of a trend of Western firms building wealth businesses in the region.

Amundi, the European asset management giant, and China’s BOC Wealth Management, has won its licence to operate a joint venture in China and is ready to open business. The JV is slated to start in October.

The groups received a licence from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. (BOC Wealth Management is part of Bank of China.)

France-based Amundi, which oversees almost €1.6 trillion ($1.87 trillion) of client money, said it will be the first foreign majority-owned company in China allowed to design and offer wealth management products. The groups first got approval for the JV project in December last year.

A number of international firms have built JVs, partnerships and other structures to tap into mainland China’s wealth management sector. A number of firms, such as BlackRock, JP Morgan, Fidelity and Neuberger Berman, have applied to become wholly foreign-owned fund management companies. JP Morgan, for, example, recently agreed with its Chinese partner, Shanghai Trust, to boost its stake in a joint venture to 100 per cent. A recent Cerulli Associates report pointed out the growth potential of such ventures.

Amundi and other groups held an opening ceremony in Shanghai to mark the start of the joint venture, including the chairman of BOC Group, Liu Liange, the CEO of Amundi, Yves Perrier, the chairman of BOC Wealth Management, Liu Donghai, and senior representatives from the municipality of Shanghai and the French authorities. The JV is registered in Lingang New Free Trade Zone in Shanghai. Amundi holds a 55 per cent stake while BOC Wealth Management holds the remaining 45 per cent stake.

The JV will be mainly engaged in public offerings and private placements of wealth management products and other asset management services, Amundi said.

“The company will primarily focus on the distribution of wealth management products to Chinese retail investors. It will first serve BOC customers and will also make its products available to other local distributors and digital platforms in China. In addition, it will progressively target institutional investors. Considering the depth of the wealth management market and its growth potential, the company expects a strong course of development,” Amundi said.

The JV will offer products with various maturities, both open and closed-ended, invested in liquid renminbi assets. For example, it will concentrate on “fixed income plus” and “multi-asset" products which are designed to deliver an “attractive” yield to investors while keeping a low to moderate risk profile. 

For its part, Amundi said that Bank of China will help brand and distribute its products, both via physical and digital routes.

Team
The team combines members from Amundi, BOC and others from the Chinese market. Liu Huijun, from Bank of China and with 25 years of experience in the asset management, global financial markets and insurance industries, will chair the board of directors of the joint venture, while Bao Aili, with over 20 years of experience in the mutual fund industry, will be appointed general manager.

Prior to her current position, Liu served as deputy CEO of Bank of China Group Insurance Company based in Hong Kong, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of China Group, where she was responsible for marketing, operations and IT. She began her career with Bank of China Group in 1994 at the group’s global markets department. Her experience spans banking, securities and insurance industries. 

Bao Aili is the general manager of Amundi-BOC Wealth Management Company Limited. Before her current position, Bao served as the GM of Everbright Pramerica Fund Management Company based in Shanghai, where she was responsible for the company's medium and long-term business plan implementation. Bao started her career at the BlackRock Asset Management New York office. She has a long experience in leading asset management companies in China and overseas; she is experienced in strategic planning, product designing, and marketing.