China’s regulatory authority has greenlit the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) to acquire a 10% stake in China Asset Management (ChinaAMC), the nation’s second-biggest mutual fund manager in terms of assets. 

The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced on 22 May that there is no objection to Qatar Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of QIA, acquiring the stake, reported Yicai Global. 

Once the deal is finalised, Qatar Holdings will emerge as the third-largest shareholder in ChinaAMC, trailing Citic Securities, which owns 62%, and Mackenzie Investments, with a 28% stake. 

Qatar Holdings will acquire the shares from Tianjin Haipeng Technology Consulting, owned by Hong Kong-based Primavera Capital. 

Set up in Beijing in 1998, ChinaAMC manages 471 fund products with a total net asset value of 1.9tn yusn ($264.6bn) as of 31 March, ranking second in the Chinese asset management market after E Fund Management.  

QIA, established in 2005, is the ninth-largest sovereign wealth fund globally, with assets of $526bn, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.  

QIA has made several investments in Chinese companies, including a $200m investment in Kingdee International Software Group in December 2023. 

Huichen Asset Management fund manager in Shanghai Dai Ming, as reported by SCMP last month, said: “For the Middle East nations, they want to reduce their reliance on the US. So strengthening [links] with China is a good option that can probably bring mutual openness. For China, it is also urgent to diversify and look for new trade partners. The Middle East has lots of money in hand and can bring investment.”