T
Rowe Price, the US investment management firm, has won a much
sought-after mandate from China's social security fund, marking the
first time that the fund has partnered with overseas investment
managers, according to the company.
T Rowe Price is one of 10 investment managers that have been selected to run the fund and it is one of the two managers responsible for running the US equities component of the portfolio.
China's National Social Security Fund was set up in 2000 to help fund the retirement China's ageing population. During the past few years, the fund, which has $26bn in assets, has diversified its investments and in 2004 it was allowed to invest in overseas markets.
These overseas mandates -- global equity, US equity, Hong Kong equity, global fixed income and foreign exchange cash management -- have been hotly contested by foreign fund managers which hope they will lead to greater business from Chinese institutions, insurance companies and export-led businesses.
China is ageing faster than expected as the strict one-child policy and longer life expectancy mean the number of retired workers is growing faster than the ranks of those paying into pension funds. More than 10% of the 1.3bn population are aged 60 or above.
More on opportunities created by China's ageing population in this EngagingChina article. More on the NSSF in this Financial Times article.
