Baltimore-based asset manager T Rowe Price has inked its first Asia ex-Japan direct retail partnership to sell funds.
The agreement will make two T Rowe Price Sicav sub-funds available to Hong Kong retail investors through Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), and the partnership marks the first time the US firm has made its funds available to retail banking customers locally.
The deal provides T Rowe Price’s “products to a broader segment of the Hong Kong retail market, extending our partnerships beyond private banks and insurance”, said Priscilla Leung, the firm’s head of intermediary business for Greater China.
T Rowe Price set up a Hong Kong office in 1987, and has a total of 25 funds authorised by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
Broader availability
“’SFC authorisation’ means these funds can be made available to local retail investors, but not all of our SFC-authorised funds are currently offered to retail investors,” Leung told our sister publication Fund Selector Asia.
“Some of our SFC-authorised funds have been available to Hong Kong investors through our previously-established partnerships with private banks and insurance companies.
“The partnership with SCB is the first time our funds are available broadly to Hong Kong investors through a retail bank,” she said.
The two products available through the latest channel are the $3.8bn (£2.8bn, €3.1bn) Global Focused Growth Equity Fund and the $3.2bn US Large Cap Growth Equity Fund.
“The new funds added to our shelf will further strengthen our product mix and meet the growing investment demand of our clients, especially our ‘Priority Private’ clients,” said Vicky Kong, head of wealth management, greater China & north Asia and Hong Kong, at Standard Chartered Bank.
‘Long-term direction’
“These [two] funds can provide Hong Kong investors exposure to the opportunities of a broad spectrum of carefully selected, high-quality growth companies with strong long-term prospects,” said Leung.
“Retail distribution is a long-term direction of ours to broaden our client base.
“We are pleased to partner with Standard Chartered because they are one of the most reputable retail banks with a wide branch network,” she said.
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