“The pandemic has led asset management companies globally to further diversify their businesses into more markets because they cannot rely on developed markets which have much slower growth than mainland China, which has seen a quicker economic recovery due to its better control of the pandemic,” said Zhong in an interview.

“Wealth Management Connect scheme tops the agenda of many fund houses. This scheme is of huge strategic significance and is poised to be a game changer,” Wong said. “Integration of ESG into the risk and investment management has mainstreamed.”

Amundi had €298 billion in assets under management in Asia as of the end of last year, representing 17 per cent of its portfolio globally. Hong Kong and mainland China accounted for €101 billion, or 6 per cent of the company’s global total.

The company has a long history in China. It set up offices in Hong Kong and Beijing in 1982, just four years after China’s economic reform. It owns one third of a joint venture fund company with Agricultural Bank of China and Chalco Capital, set up in 2008. It has introduced 60 mutual funds and attracted US$77 billion in investment over the past 13 years.

More recently, it set up a 55-45 joint venture with BOC Wealth, a unit of Bank of China. The joint venture, called Amundi BOC Wealth Management Company, is the first foreign majority-owned wealth management company. It has issued more than 50 fund products with over US$5 billion under management, and aims to reach €60 billion (US$70.76 billion) in assets under management by 2025.

In Hong Kong, it has 36 funds sold through 20 distributors and has US$11 billion under management.

Zhong believes Amundi’s two mainland joint ventures and its Hong Kong business will expand substantially in the coming years, as the Wealth Management Connect scheme allows the cross-border buying and selling of fund products via banks.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Monday that a launch date for the scheme would be announced soon.

China, which has set 2060 as its target to achieve carbon neutrality, is expected to offer a lot of investment opportunities in green financing in the years ahead, which should bring business opportunities to Amundi, Zhong said. The company added ESG criteria into its investment strategy back in 2010, while its level of “responsible investment” has grown from €32 billion to more than €370 billion in the last decade.

“We do not invest in companies with low ESG ratings as they tend to have problems sooner or later,” he said.