US investment firm Neuberger Berman has become the second global asset manager after BlackRock Inc to launch a mutual fund in China since Beijing opened up the 26 trillion RMB (US$391 billion) onshore public fund market to foreign players in 2019.
The One Year Fixed Income Securities Investment Fund was listed on March 17, after Neuberger Berman secured a mutual fund licence from the China Securities Regulatory Commission in November and won approval for the launch a month later.
It comes 18 months after first mover BlackRock launched an equity fund in September 2021.
Neuberger Berman’s fund primarily focuses on debt.
At least 80% of the assets are invested in Chinese government bonds and notes, and debt issued by policy banks and investment grade corporations in China, according to the fund’s regulatory announcement last week.
It’s co-managed by Peter Ru, chief investment officer of fixed income at Neuberger Berman’s China unit, and Ping Zhou, CIO of quantitative investments.
Neuberger Berman entered the onshore market in 2017 when it established a wholly foreign-owned unit and registered as a private fund manager with the Asset Management Association of China, allowing it to sell private funds to rich individuals.
New York-based Neuberger Berman had around $427 billion of assets under management at the end of 2022.