Principal Global Investors (Asia) plans to buy small fund companies to expand its pension fund and asset management businesses, according to its senior executives.
Stanley Yip, managing director for pension and asset management, believed small funds in Hong Kong would consolidate.
'We hope to acquire some pension funds, MPF[-linked] funds and asset management companies. We are in talks with investment banks and hope to find our targets through their network,' he said.
Mr Yip noted that the pension fund segment was only a small portion of large local banks' activities, which meant the lenders were not interested in acquisition talks.
The company, under Principal Financial Group of the United States, manages more than $10 billion worth of retirement assets, or 7 per cent of the Hong Kong market involving 170,000 employees.
Asia chief executive Rex Auyeung said: 'We would like to have a market share of more than 10 per cent.' Mr Auyeung said the group was interested in pension funds whose portfolios were mainly small and medium-sized enterprises with about 100 employees.