ExclusiveUS investment manager Neuberger Berman eyes more mutual funds in China after raising US$595 million for its first product

Neuberger Berman aims to launch another equity-focused fund this year after the success of its first product in China

The New York-based company wants to build its China unit into a boutique investment manager, top mainland executive Peter Ru says

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Neuberger’ Berman’s maiden product was the second retail fund launched by a wholly owned foreign investment firm in mainland China, after BlackRock in 2021. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 12:30pm, 26 Mar 2023

Neuberger Berman is keen to launch more mutual funds in China after raising 4.09 billion yuan (US$595.6 million) from retail investors for its first product, as the US asset manager joins other global firms in targeting the nation’s US$3.7 trillion mutual-fund market.

The New York-based company will launch another equity-focused fund in China targeting onshore shares later this year, most likely in the second or third quarter, a senior company executive said, adding that the firm was simultaneously strengthening its investment and research capabilities in the country.

“We are trying to build our mainland unit into a boutique [investment manager] and [initially] launch only a few products to nurture clients,” Peter Ru, the Shanghai-based managing director and China fixed-income strategy leader at Neuberger Berman, told the South China Morning Post in a recent interview.

The firm’s focus on China comes as peers like BlackRock, Fidelity and Alliance Bernstein have won approvals for setting up wholly owned mutual-fund entities in the industry’s third-largest market after the United States and Europe.

Peter Ru, managing director and China fixed-income strategy leader at Neuberger Berman. Photo: Handout

International fund managers have been vying for China’s fast growing mutual-fund market, which has grown at a compound annual growth rate of about 20 per cent over the past five years, according to Fitch Ratings.