Rules hamper China's financial sector opening

Hong Kong

IN the last two years, more than 30 global asset managers have been awarded licences to set up wholly-owned units in China as they sought a share of the country's US$1.5 trillion private fund management market.

Yet only about six of those asset managers - a group that includes the likes of Aberdeen Standard Investments, Invesco and Vanguard - have so far managed to come closer to getting their first funds off the ground.

One of the biggest problems holding the others back is an acute shortage of qualified and experienced financial sector professionals in the world's second-largest economy, said people familiar with the matter.

Although China is gradually opening up its financial sector - from investment banking to insurance - to greater foreign participation, its rules make i…