Goldman’s JV with ICBC raises US$21m in maiden China wealth product

GOLDMAN Sachs’ majority-owned asset management venture with Chinese state lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) raised 149.41 million yuan (S$28.8 million) in its first product, according to a statement.

The Wall Street bank is the fourth foreign institution to set up a joint venture with a local asset management partner to sell wealth products in China, following Amundi, BlackRock and Schroders.

Goldman Sachs ICBC Wealth Management said the product, which invests in equities and adopts quantitative strategies, was officially established on Nov 17.

It was exclusively distributed by ICBC for 15 days from Oct 31, during which China’s stock and bond markets witnessed massive volatility.

The fundraising was significantly smaller than that of BlackRock’s China wealth management venture, which raised 2.4 billion yuan in its first product in September last year and well below the product’s fundraising ceiling of 5 billion yuan.

Since China relaxed foreign ownership rules in its US$4 trillion wealth management product market in 2019, global asset managers have rushed to form foreign majority-owned ventures with China’s largest lenders. REUTERS