Bye-bye Beijing: Fund managers leave for Shanghai, Shenzhen

Of the first 10 Chinese fund management companies, six were located in Beijing. This was partly due to happenstance: many of their shareholders were Beijing-based securities firms. But it was also because Beijing offers close access to wealthy institutions that are potential customers. It is China’s second-largest centre for high-tech companies, another vein to mine. But ultimately Beijing has been a useful place to be because it is close to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and other key regulators. Little gets done in China without the official go-ahead – at least not above board – and proximity to mandarins is a competitive edge.

Nonetheless, this year Beijing will lose its fund management industry. Fuguo (in English, Fullgoal) has just decamped for Shanghai. “Shanghai is a financial centre,” explains Cary Zhang, Fullgoal’s chief strategist. It may not be near CSRC but it is near the Shanghai Stock Exchange and many publicly listed companies. Fullgoal now joins China Guotai and Huaan in this bustling commercial city.