Allianz Global Investors Applied for Fund Management License in China
Posted on 04/01/2023
China is an important strategic market for Allianz Group. China is on track to become the largest insurance market globally. On March 24, 2023, Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI), which is owned by Allianz SE, applied for a fund management company license in China. European fund managers are trying to access mainland China’s domestic retail investor market. The fund manager set up its onshore fund management business in China when it hired Leo Shen from Mercer in Hong Kong to lead the business in 2021. AllianzGI already has a wholly foreign-owned enterprise license (WFOE), with which it operates Allianz Global Investors Asset Management (Shanghai). The WFOE license allows AllianzGI to serve domestic institutional investors in China, while the FMC license will allow the company to access domestic retail investors in the country.
AllianzGI has €506 billion in assets under management.
In 2021, Allianz China Life Insurance Co., Ltd became the first foreign-owned life insurance company in China to take over ownership of its joint venture when it was approved to acquire the 49% shareholdings owned by CITIC Trust Co., Ltd.
