UBP’s wholly-foreign owned enterprise (WFOE), UBP Overseas Investment Management (Shanghai), received approval for a QDLP licence from the Asset Management Association of China (Amac) on Monday, according to its website.
The license permits the firm to roll out qualified domestic limited partnership (QDLP) products, which allow foreign managers to raise money in China, within assigned quotas, to invest in offshore traditional and alternative investments, including overseas equity and bond funds, hedge funds and property.
The QDLP product is a type of private fund, targeting domestic qualified – institutional and high net worth – investors on the mainland.
China has been cautious about issuing QDLP quota because the programme takes money offshore and capital outflows could impact the value of the RMB.
UBP’s WFOE was established in August 2018, with registered capital of $2m (£1.6m, €1.8), according to Amac records.
This year, other foreign firms also received approval for QDLP products, including Oaktree Capital, Eastspring Investments and Allianz Global Investors.
Private fund management business
UBP also runs a separate private fund management (PFM) business in the mainland through jointly-owned UBP Investment Management in Shanghai.
It was set up in 2014 as a joint venture between a group of investment professionals and UBP. With registered capital of RMB 30m ($4.2m, £3.4m, €3.8m), the firm was registered as a PFM license holder with the Amac in 2015, according to the firm’s website.
The PFM license enables foreign entities to develop and sell funds investing in onshore assets to domestic qualified investors, including institutional and high net worth investors.
The joint venture provides two main investment strategies, equity strategy and quantitative strategy, according to the firm’s website.
The equity strategy identifies equities with potential to generate alpha over the long term while the quantitative strategy applies proprietary quantitative models designed in-house and targets stable returns, the website shows.
UBP Investment Management in Shanghai now manages 30 products, according to Amac records.
Asset Management division
UBP also has an asset management arm in Hong Kong called UBP Asset Management Asia. It has three licenses, including dealing in securities (type 1) and advising on securities (type 4) that the firm obtained in 2007, and asset management (type 9) which was granted in 2010, according to records from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
Earlier this month, the firm rolled out the UBAM – Positive Impact Emerging Equity Fund focusing on emerging market equities.
Another impact product, the Positive Impact Equity Fund, was unveiled in 2018, our sister publication Fund Selector Asia previously reported.
At the end of last year, UBP managed total assets of CHF 140.3bn ($145bn, £118bn, €132bn). It is primarily focused on wealth management for private and institutional clients.
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