The two who dominate local fund industry

Jardine Fleming (JF) and Fidelity Investments first opened offices in Hong Kong in the early 1980s. These companies have followed quite distinct and separate strategies. JF has been an aggressive promoter of fund launches.

The single country fund product range specialising in Asia has meant the group has gained a reputation for fund management in the region and that the company has been in the right place at the right time on many occasions to catch bull runs in regional markets. The only exception to this is its failure to launch an Indonesian fund.

Fidelity Investment has tended to be more cautious, with brand-name advertising being the focus. It has shied away from the volatile niche market fund strategy and, instead, has recently been promoting a no-load, fixed-interest fund.

Both groups have added to their client services. Fidelity Investments has a regional free phone fund information service and dealing is also available.

JF has heavily invested in technology to launch MasterLine. It also has a client portfolio fund valuation service along with dealing services.