Compliance Corner: Wellington, China

Editorial Staff

7 July 2022

Wellington Global Private Fund Management (Shanghai)
Wellington Global Private Fund Management (Shanghai), a subsidiary of , can now offer investment products to accredited investors in China, part of the continuing trend of foreign firms trying to penetrate the Asian giant’s financial sector.

The organisation has won registration as a Qualified Domestic Limited Partner private fund manager with the Asset Management Association of China.

“As one of the world’s largest independent investment management firms, we are keen to bring our leading research expertise and overseas strategies to qualified investors here. China is a key growth market worldwide, with long-term potential for the firm – and is an integral part of our global and Asia strategy,” Scott Geary, senior managing director and head of client group for Asia-Pacific at Wellington Management, said.

Winning the licence is a progression for Wellington, which has been serving institutional clients, including insurance companies, asset management firms and private banks in mainland China since 2007. Receiving a QDLP licence is a significant step

“We are encouraged to see solid steps being continually taken by Chinese regulators in promoting the country’s financial opening-up. Such steps provide international financial institutions like ours the opportunity to introduce our global investment and research capabilities to onshore investors, and to help meet their growing and varied financial goals,” Geary added.

The move is a significant one because Wellington manages more than $1.3 trillion of investments for a range of institutional and private clients, including family offices.

At a time when relations between Western governments and Beijing have cooled over issues such as trade and China’s security crackdown on Hong Kong, the phenomenon of American and European firms pushing into the market has been controversial. Last year, famous hedge fund tycoon and political activist George Soros warned that such firms were making a “tragic mistake.” The financier said BlackRock's dealings in the Chinese economy will not only lose money for its clients in the long run but will also inflict damage on the national security of the US and other democracies. Soros referred to moves by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, to tap the onshore Chinese investment market.