Neuberger Berman Approved by China Securities Regulator to Conduct Mutual Fund Business

U.S. asset manager Neuberger Berman's Chinese unit said on Friday it had been granted a license by the China securities regulator to conduct mutual fund business.

Neuberger Berman Fund Management (China) Ltd said on its official WeChat account that it had recently obtained the business licence from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

In doing so it has become the second newly-established, wholly foreign-owned fund management company allowed to conduct mutual fund business in China, the company said.

"We are honoured to now be able to broadly serve Chinese investors in local markets," Neuberger Berman said in an emailed statement.

BlackRock already operates a fully owned mutual fund business in China.

Several other global asset managers, including Fidelity International, Schroders Plc and VanEck, are also preparing for a wholly-owned business in China's $3.7 trillion mutual fund industry.

Neuberger Berman applied to set up a China mutual fund unit on April 1, 2020, when the Chinese government scrapped foreign ownership caps in the sector under a China-U.S. trade deal.

The U.S. asset manager got CSRC's nod to set up the fund unit in September, 2021.