Allianz Global Investors has secured a wholly foreign-owned fund management company or FMC licence from the Chinese securities regulator, allowing the German asset manager to sell mutual funds in China.
Last August, the company set up a wholly-owned fund management unit with 300 million RMB (US$41.42 million) of registered capital after getting regulatory approval.
With the licence now in hand, it can proceed to operate the mutual fund business.
Allianz Global Investors announced the green light from the China Securities Regulatory Commission in a statement on April 18.
The German firm is the ninth foreign fund house to be approved to sell funds since Beijing opened up the onshore mutual fund market to international players in 2020.
Other foreign firms that have been awarded FMC licences include US asset management giant BlackRock Inc and AllianceBernstein.
According to Allianz Global Investors, the Chinese regulator’s approval underscores the company’s commitment to the China market and providing onshore investors with access to its global investment expertise.
“Having obtained our FMC licence, we can now commence our public fund management business in this dynamic market, allowing us to begin serving the growing population of retail investors in the country,” Chief Executive Officer Tobias Pross says in the statement.
Figures from the Asset Management Association of China show there are 146 registered asset managers in the country with 29.3 trillion RMB of mutual fund assets as of February 2024.
Munich-based Allianz Global Investors had 533 billion euros ($565.66 billion) of total assets as of December 2023.