Hong Kong's fund management industry expanded at the fastest pace in at least four years to HK$9.63 trillion ($1.2 trillion) at the end of 2007, the city's Securities and Futures Commission said in an annual survey.
The size of the industry increased 57 percent last year, compared with 36 percent in 2006, according to a report posted on the regulator's Web site.
The accelerated growth came “on the back of strong performance in the financial markets, inflows of investment funds and gain in investment mandates,” SFC said in the report.
More than 68 percent of the HK$9.57 trillion overseen by the Hong Kong industry, excluding those managed in real estate investment trusts, was raised from non-Hong Kong investors, the highest proportion in five years, said the SFC.
China's CSI 300 Index gained 162 percent last year, the best-performer among 90 major global indexes tracked by Bloomberg, tempting foreign investors to use Hong Kong to gain access to the country's stock market. Hong Kong's own Hang Seng Index rose 39 percent in 2007.
China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange cleared mainland fund management companies, securities firms and commercial banks to invest $54.6 billion of client money in international markets by June, giving a boost to Hong Kong's fund management industry.
Mainland Chinese contributed at least HK$130 billion toward Hong Kong's fund industry through the so-called qualified domestic institutional investors or QDII, a program that allows them to buy international securities.
The SFC survey covers money managers, private banks, fund advisers and insurance companies licensed for asset management businesses.
Although Hong Kong has been a promising venue for investments for the past years, how are asset managers preparing to cope with possible losses caused by declines in the global market?
posted by Charltonmedia.com | 12:02 AM
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