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牛津大学赫特福德桥(Hertford Bridge),俗称叹息桥(Bridge of Sighs)。图/岳跃 摄于2021年4月

 

【本文为牛津大学校刊《牛津战略评论》(Oxford Strategy Review)2021年夏刊约稿,后附中文译稿。】

 

How can foreign asset managers survive in China?

 

By Yue Yue
CAIXIN MEDIA FELLOW at Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford


Even as everyone’s talking about China decoupling from the West, foreign asset managers are bucking the trend and becoming close partners with the Chinese market. The financial industry now appears to be one of the most accessible sectors in China for foreigners.

Earlier this June, BlackRock Inc., the world's largest asset manager, became the first foreign such operation to win permission for a wholly owned mutual fund business in China. It’s part of the company’s strategy of expanding in the world's fastest-growing wealth markets.

Despite geopolitical tensions and the pandemic, Chinese authorities have accelerated regulatory restructuring in recent years to open up the wealth and asset management markets more widely to overseas players. One of these measures is the removal of limits on foreign ownership of futures businesses, mutual funds and securities firms.

The Chinese asset management industry is still in its early stages, but it is rapidly expanding. The first mutual fund management businesses in China were established in 1998. By 2020, the industry's assets under management reached $19.22 trillion, ranking second only to the United States. By 2023, as BCG projected, total household wealth is expected to reach $35 trillion.

China has enormous potential for foreign asset managers, with its growing wealth, expanding institutional participation, and faster-than-expected regulatory changes. Entry into the Chinese market is a huge opportunity

The establishment of wholly foreign-owned asset management companies is conducive to effective operation by avoiding previous corporate governance conflicts. That was one of the reasons foreign-owned joint ventures were not as competitive.  Foreign financial institutions have found it difficult to do business in China over the past few decades. To conduct business in the country, they were frequently required to take on a local business as a partner. Differences in viewpoints between Chinese and foreign companies, as well as constant infighting among senior managements, made achieving goals more difficult.

The Chinese A-share stock market has several appealing features for foreign asset managers. Its average daily turnover exceeds $100 billion, higher than all other emerging markets combined. The opening of the A-share market to investors from all over the world is one of the most significant developments in global equity markets in decades. Despite having the world's second-largest economy, China accounts for only about 5% of global equity benchmarks. According to Lazard, China is expected to make up over 40% of major emerging market benchmarks in the next few years.

Chinese retail investors have huge but largely unmet investment needs. With products like index funds, as well as skills and experience in investment strategy and risk management, foreign asset managers are well positioned to make a difference. Global asset managers have a good reputation for long-term and value investing, which means they focus more on fundamental analysis and adhere to strict internal compliance and risk controls. These qualities, in the eyes of Chinese authorities, have set an example of what a good asset management company should be.

The most important point to remember is that China's market economy currently lacks true rule of law, particularly in the financial markets. Foreign companies were previously unprofitable partly because foreign institutions were afraid to engage in many noncompliant practices when financial regulation was lax, whereas Chinese institutions were not. Foreign institutions now have more opportunities in China as the country focuses more on effective financial regulation and compliance. However, they must still be prepared for a long process of improving the rule of law.

Foreign businesses still face challenges in China despite financial liberalisation and improvements in the business environment.

Often, the first and most difficult challenge is adhering to the country's regulations. Foreign institutions must adapt to the local environment in China. Everything, including risk control, compliance, and network security, must be tailored locally. Foreign institutions must take time to balance their own needs with those of local regulators. Because China's financial market is governed by rules that differ from those in other markets, reshaping business and technology systems into "China mode" could pose a significant challenge.

Foreign institutions see developing the Chinese domestic market as another major challenge. Generally, finding talented staff would be the most difficult obstacle as foreign institutions seek someone "omniscient" in China, a person who not only understands foreign culture and languages but also has a thorough understanding of the Chinese market. Foreign companies, on the other hand, frequently have to compromise on either a candidate's English skills or understanding of the local market. A more depressing reality is that Chinese institutions have already scooped up the majority of the top talent.

At the operational level, there are numerous challenges as well. The three biggest issues would be cost accounting, business scope, and communication between the local team and headquarters. Making money in the first few years of operation is unlikely. Local institutions have a significant advantage in finding channels for raising capital, marketing, and brand awareness because of their wealth of experience and knowledge. As a result, winning market share from Chinese competitors is tough.

Global asset managers face a relatively unknown market with far fewer local resources to draw upon. They frequently believe that simply having a strong international brand will be enough to sell products in China. To be clear, a well-known brand can help open doors, but in today's crowded, competitive market, that alone is insufficient. Global players have no track record in China, and they must rely heavily on securities firms to help them raise money for their funds. The main distribution channels for retail fund products in China for the past decade have been the country's major retail banks. Many local banks are unwilling to sell products for their competitors because they are just starting to set up their own wealth management subsidiaries. Partnering with a large Chinese internet platform is a smart move, but complying with Chinese financial regulations is a whole new challenge.

A successful asset management business should not be limited to a single market. It should be global in scope, which necessitates a global market where capital can freely flow to efficiently allocate resources and diversify risks. China's asset management industry is still far from achieving that. On the one hand, China must continue to accelerate capital account liberalisation, which Chinese reformers are still working on, though this process is likely to take a long time; on the other hand, the anti-globalisation trend of beggar-thy-neighbour must be countered.

 

 

外国资管公司的中国机遇与挑战

 

 | 岳跃

 

当中国与西方世界脱钩成为热议话题时,外国资产管理公司却逆势而为,正成为中国市场的亲密合作伙伴,金融业似乎也成了外资在中国最容易进入的领域之一。
 
今年6月初,全球最大的资管公司贝莱德 (BlackRock Inc.) 成为首家获准在中国设立独资公募基金管理公司的外资机构,彰显了其在全球增长最快的财富市场——中国市场,扩大业务版图的雄心。
 
尽管有紧张的地缘政治和肆虐的新冠疫情,中国当局近年来却加快了监管改革,以便向海外参与者开放更广泛的财富和资管市场。其中一项措施便是取消对期货、公募基金和证券公司的外资所有权限制。
 
和海外成熟市场相比,中国资管行业虽处于起步阶段,但扩张迅速。中国第一批公募基金管理公司,1998年才出现;到2020年末,中国资管行业的管理规模已达到19.22万亿美元,仅次于美国;根据波士顿咨询的测算,到2023年,中国家庭总财富将达到35万亿美元。
 
中国拥有不断增长的财富、不断扩大的机构参与以及快于预期的监管改革,中国市场对外国资管公司而言具有巨大潜力,充满商机。
 
外商独资资管公司的设立,避免了以往合资企业的公司治理冲突,有利于有效运作;而治理冲突正是合资企业以前竞争力不强的原因之一。在过去的几十年里,外国金融机构可能发现在中国做生意并不容易;为了开展业务,他们经常需要与本土公司合作。然而,中外合资企业的观念差异,以及高管之间的内讧不断,导致外资机构很难实现预期目标。
 
对于外资资管公司将要面对的市场,中国A股市场有诸多吸引人的特点。它的日均成交额超过1000万美元,这比其他新兴市场的总和还要多;它通过多种方式向境外投资者开放,这也是全球股市近年来最重要的发展之一。中国尽管是世界第二大经济体,但中国A股在新兴市场指数中的权重仅占5%左右。资管公司Lazard (诺斯德) 预计,未来几年中国将占主要新兴市场基准的40%以上。
 
对于潜在客户而言,中国散户投资者是典型意义上的长尾客户,他们存在巨大的投资需求,但在很大程度上还没有得到满足。外国资管公司凭借其在指数基金、投资策略和风险管理等方面的技能和经验,完全有能力发挥作用。全球资管公司在长期投资和价值投资方面享有盛誉,这往往意味着他们更注重基本面分析,并坚持严格的内部合规和风险控制。在中国监管者的眼中,这些品质可以为资管公司树立优秀榜样。
 
不过,金融自由化和营商环境虽然有所改善,外国公司在中国仍面临诸多挑战。
 
需要重视的是,中国市场经济目前的短板是法治,对金融市场来说更是。外资之前不赚钱,部分原因在于在金融监管松弛的时候,很多不合规的做法外资机构不敢做,但中资机构却无所顾忌。现在中国更加强调金融有效监管和合规性,那么外资机构是有机会的;但也要对法治完善这个漫长过程有心理准备。
 
通常,在中国开展业务的首要挑战也是最困难的挑战是遵守法律法规。外国机构必须适应中国当地环境。包括风控、合规和网络安全在内,一切都必须在本地量身定制。外国机构必须花时间平衡自己的内部合规与本土监管机构的需求。由于中国金融市场的监管规则与外国机构在其他市场习惯遵循的规则不尽相同,因此将自己的业务模式和技术体系调整为“中国模式”可能会是一项艰巨的任务。
 
除了监管合规,外国机构在中国市场的具体展业也会遇到不少难题。一般来说,寻找人才是在中国长期发展最困难的障碍之一,因为外国机构往往希望在中国寻找“万能”的人——既熟悉外国文化和语言,又对中国市场有透彻的了解。实际上,外国公司经常不得不在人选的英语技能或他们对当地市场的理解方面做出妥协。一个更令人沮丧的现实是,中国市场上绝大部分的顶尖人才,早已被本土公司吸收。
 
在运营层面,也存在许多挑战。最大的三个问题是成本核算、业务规模以及本地团队与总部之间的沟通。外资公司不太可能在运营的头几年赚钱。与之相比,由于有丰富的经验和资源,本土机构在募集资金、营销、品牌拓展、渠道等方面具有显着优势。因此,从中国竞争对手手中夺取市场份额也成为一项艰巨的任务。全球资管公司面临的,将是一个相对未知的市场,可利用的本地资源要少得多。他们常常认为,拥有一个强大的国际品牌就足以在中国销售他们的产品;而需要明确的是,一个知名品牌可以帮助敲开大门,但在竞争日渐激烈的市场中,光有品牌是不够的。作为新来者,外资资管机构在中国市场没有历史业绩,严重依赖证券公司帮助他们募集资金。而过去十年,中国零售基金产品的主要分销渠道一直是中国的大型商业银行,而这些本土银行并没有太多为竞争对手销售产品的动力,因为他们也刚刚开始设立了自己的理财子公司。选择和中国的大型互联网平台合作是个明智的选择,但如何与中国的金融监管相容,也是个全新的挑战。
 
一家成功的资管公司不应局限于单一市场,它应该有全球性的布局,这需要一个资本可以自由流动的全球市场,以便有效地配置资源和分散风险,而中国的资管业在这方面还差得很远。一方面,中国必须继续推动资本项下的开放,这也是中国改革者还在努力的方向,但这个渐进的过程可能仍然比较漫长;另一方面,也需要不断遏制以邻为壑的逆全球化思潮。
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财新传媒高级记者、资管新闻部副主任,财新·牛津学者(2021),曾任新华通讯社记者、北京电视台《首都经济报道》主持人,译著有《对话最伟大的头脑:世界顶级CEO的工作智慧》《数据新闻大趋势:释放可视化报道的力量》,毕业于伦敦政治经济学院、武汉大学。

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