US-based leading asset manager BlackRock’s wealth management joint venture in China has received approval from China to start operation in the country, media reports said. BlackRock owns 50.1 percent of the joint venture. Another 40 percent is owned by China Construction Bank and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek owns 9.9 percent.
Laurence Fink, BlackRock’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement, “The Chinese market represents a significant opportunity to help meet the long-term goals of investors in China and internationally. We are committed to investing in China to offer domestic assets for domestic investors and look forward to creating a better financial future for more people.”
Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), earlier said that China welcomes more foreign entry into China’s financial sector, including the wealth management space.
Earlier this year, it was reported that US-based investment bank and financial services company JP Morgan is seeking another Chinese wealth management joint venture.
JP Morgan is not the only multinational bank or entity eyeing the wealth management space in China, which is estimated to grow to as much as $30 trillion in 2023. By establishing its joint venture JP Morgan would be competing with a joint venture between Blackrock, Temasek and China Construction Bank, which was approved in August 2020, as well as an Amundi-Bank of China JV.
It was also reported that Citi Group to ramp up its wealth management division in the Asia-Pacific region as part of its push to boost assets under management in the region by $150 billion by 2025.