The decision will make the two asset managers the only two in France and in the eurozone to be granted the sought-after Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor licence (RQFII).
In January Ashmore became the first company outside of Hong Kong to be granted an RQFII licence. It has since been followed by BlackRock, which now has a licence for both is Asian and UK businesses, while HSBC is expected to also receive one.
Carmignac said it “embarked on this endeavour” to expand its investment universe to the Chinese domestic market. As an example of the opportunity, Carmignac cited the huge scale of the bond market and equity markets where bond issuance amounts to $5,000bn and the equity market is worth $4,000bn – twice that of Chinese companies listed abroad.
According to Haiyan Li-Labbé, China analyst at Carmignac: “The reforms embarked upon by the Chinese government are a short-term hurdle but offer excellent long-term potential, which is where we want to be able to position ourselves effectively.”
