M&G taps Value Partners for £500m Chinese equities mandate

Value Partners has been handed a £500m Chinese equity mandate from M&G to increase its access to investment opportunities in Chinese companies.

Local stock-picker Value Partners will manage a mandate in excess of £500m - a portion of M&G's overall £2bn-plus exposure to Chinese equities - focusing on a mix of actively managed onshore and offshore Chinese equities, using the MSCI China All Shares Index.

Value Partners was established in 1993 and became the first asset management firm to be listed on the Main Board on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company is headquartered in Hong Kong and has offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and London.

The Asia Pacific equities investment team at M&G has also been given a mandate. The allocation of the internal mandate follows the investment by M&G in September 2019 in an Asia Pacific equity fund management and research capability, to meet increasing client demand for assets in the region.

Jack Daniels, CIO of M&G, said: "As one of the world's largest and fastest-growing economies, China is home to exciting companies with cutting-edge technology and a burgeoning consumer base. For active managers like us, it is essential to blend our own expertise with that of a local partner to ensure our customers can benefit from their extensive experience, which should in turn result in excellent investment returns."

The beneficiaries of these new mandates are customers in the £136bn Prudential with-profits fund, which includes PruFund. This with-profits fund offers investors access to a range of assets, across different asset types and countries.

Hendrik von Ripperda-Cosyn, country head and managing director, European Business of Value Partners, added: "As a result of the growth of China's equity markets, both in terms of global index weightings and overall market capitalisation, we are now seeing an increasing number of asset owners beginning to implement dedicated, standalone China allocations.

"We expect this to be the beginning of a major shift in strategic asset allocations toward China."