China’s first-half mutual fund sales hit record as industry boom continues amid lacklustre stock performance
- Onshore money managers sold 1.6 trillion yuan (US$248 billion) of newly launched funds, an all-time high for the six-month period, according to the Securities Times
- The euphoria for mutual funds shows no signs of abating in spite of the dreary performance of stocks in 2021
China’s mutual fund sales have continued to boom this year, with asset management firms selling a record amount of new products in the first half.
The onshore money managers sold 1.6 trillion yuan (US$248 billion) of newly launched funds, an all-time high for the six-month period, according to the Securities Times, a publication run by the People’s Daily. That followed unprecedented annual sales that topped 3 trillion yuan last year.
The momentum in Chinese domestic stocks has weakened this year amid headwinds that include the prospect of policy tightening and the concern that growth will peak after a resilient recovery from the pandemic.
The strong sales underscore a victory on the part of the Chinese regulator in achieving its goals of increasing institutional participation in the world’s second-largest stock market and restraining volatile swings stemming from retail investor sentiment.