On January 26, 2022, Schroder Bank of communications Financial Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Schroder Bank of communications financial management”) received the approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to start business, becoming the third Sino foreign joint venture financial management company approved to start business.
Schroder Bank of communications financial management has a registered capital of RMB 1 billion and its registered place is Shanghai. Schroder Investment Management Co., Ltd. (51%) is the foreign shareholder and Bank of communications Financial Management Co., Ltd. (49%) is the Chinese shareholder. Schroders PLC was founded in 1804 and headquartered in London. By the end of June 2021, its total global asset management scale had reached 967.5 billion US dollars (about 6 trillion yuan). In China, Schroder investment group began to provide overseas investment opportunities for its customers through the QDII (qualified domestic institutional investor) quota of foreign banks in 2007; Bocom wealth management is a product under the new regulations of asset management. It was established in June 2019 with a registered capital of 8 billion yuan. It is the first bank wealth management subsidiary established in Shanghai. At present, the scale of wealth management products has exceeded 1.1 trillion yuan. Schroder investment group and Bank Of Communications Co.Ltd(601328) have been married as early as 2005. At that time, the two formed a partnership.
Schroder Bank of communications financial management told the first financial reporter that the establishment of Schroder Bank of communications financial management is a specific measure for Bank Of Communications Co.Ltd(601328) group to implement the decision and deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on further expanding the opening-up of the financial industry, and also reflects Schroder Investment Group’s long-term commitment and investment in the Chinese market, It is also an important foothold for both shareholders to actively support the construction of Shanghai international financial center. By introducing the experience and ideas of international asset management giants in corporate governance, operation management, portfolio management and risk management, the establishment of Schroder Bank of communications financial management will further enrich the supply of products and services in China’s financial market and improve the overall competitiveness of China’s asset management industry.
In the future, China and foreign countries will strengthen cooperation. The two sides can complement each other in terms of customer resources, product design, investment capacity and risk management. The importance of channel resources for foreign investment in China’s exhibition industry is self-evident. The shareholders of Chinese banks with strong customer groups will give greater channel support to foreign investment. For example, according to the reporter, since the first joint venture financial management company Huihua financial management (a joint venture between Dongfang Huili and BOC financial management) opened for more than a year, the scale of asset management has rapidly climbed to the level of more than 70 billion yuan, which also benefited from the channel help of Bank Of China Limited(601988) .
In terms of products, “fixed income +” has become the main product of the current mainstream financial management companies in the early stage of transformation, which inevitably makes the financial customers “aesthetic fatigue”, and how to differentiate has become the key. Schroeder Bank of communications financial management said that based on the rich experience of both shareholders in the field of big data decision-making and support in the global market, multi asset allocation and investment research, it will establish the investment concept of multi asset and medium and long-term, and build a professional and characteristic product line different from the traditional “fixed income +”, covering product categories such as equity, mixed, cross-border and alternative assets; On the other hand, in terms of investment strategy, we will combine the needs of Chinese and foreign customers for product risk and return characteristics, develop products with lower volatility and more diversified investment, and strive to provide excellent services and professional investment solutions on Chinese themes.
It can be seen that Schroeder’s business development idea of BOCOM financial management is more similar to Huihua financial management. Prior to this, BlackRock CCB financial, the second business, has taken the “high-end” route. Since its debut, it has issued two quantitative investment products with risk level of R5, which are only for high net worth customers of CCB private banks.
According to the reporter, the similarity with BlackRock is that Schroeder also has the plan of “walking on two legs” in China, that is, to establish a joint venture financial management company and a public fund at the same time. A few years ago, Schroeder filed a record in China to become a wholly foreign-owned private securities investment fund manager (WFOE PFM) and issued a variety of private fund products. In the future, it is not ruled out to further promote the process of “private to public”.
