The size of funds under management in Hong Kong compares poorly with those in the United States and Europe, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The survey, conducted in March, showed that 46 per cent of fund houses in Europe and 19 per cent of those in the US were managing funds in excess of US$50 billion. But not one Hong Kong fund manager in the survey had US$50 billion under management. In fact, almost half of Hong Kong's fund-management companies had less than US$1 billion in funds under management.
Only 11 per cent of US fund houses and 13 per cent of their European counterparts managed less than US$1 billion.
'There are 220 million people in the US and a similar sized population in Europe. Of course, the US and European fund industries would be much bigger than that in Hong Kong, where the population is only six to seven million,' said Mark O'Sullivan, a partner in the Asian Investment Management Industry Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
He said the US and Europe had much more mature fund and pension markets than Hong Kong, which only launched its first compulsory retirement scheme, the Mandatory Provident Fund, in December. The US introduced its retirement plan 401(k) in 1978. Before the launch of the MPF, only 7 per cent of the local population invested in funds, compared with almost 50 per cent in the US.
Mr O'Sullivan said the launch of the MPF would help narrow the gap between Hong Kong and overseas markets.
