The firm has also hired a new chief investment officer of equities in China.

Eastspring Investments, the Asian investment management arm of Prudential, has registered Eastspring Investment Management (Shanghai), its wholly foreign owned enterprise (WFOE), as a private fund manager (PFM) with the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).

In addition to receiving a PFM licence, Eastspring has appointed Michelle Qi as chief investment officer of equities in China. In this newly-created role, Qi will be responsible for the growth and development of Eastspring’s onshore equities investment offering in China, it said in a statement.

The PFM licence enables Eastspring to offer onshore investment products, such as equities, fixed income and multi-asset products, to high net worth individuals and institutional investors in China. Eastspring established Eastspring Investment Management (Shanghai), an investment management wholly foreign owned enterprise (IM WFOE) in March 2018.

Prior to joining Eastspring, Qi worked at Bank of Communications Schroder Fund Management (BOCOM Schroders) in Shanghai for 13 years as an equity portfolio manager and, most recently, as CIO.

Based in Eastspring’s newly-established Shanghai office, Qi will report jointly to Virginie Maisonneuve, CIO and Michael Lu, general manager, China. Lu joined Eastspring earlier in the year from Robeco, where he led its China business for more than 10 years.

“Our ambitions in China are to serve local Chinese investors, offer Chinese investors the opportunity to invest in Eastspring’s global offshore funds, and also provide global investors with the opportunity to invest directly in China via our onshore investment team,” said Guy Strapp, chief executive. “Our PFM licence reaffirms our commitment to this important market, providing us with a foundation for the long-term development of our asset management business in China.”