AMP, China Life set up new funds management JV

SYDNEY -- AMP Capital will establish a new funds management company in China with Life Asset Management Company, a subsidiary of China's largest insurer China Life Insurance Company, Australian and New Zealand independent wealth management company AMP announced Monday.

AMP Capital, a subsidiary of AMP, will hold a 15 percent stake in China Life AMP Asset Management Company, with the balance to be held by China Life Asset Management Company (CLAMC).

The joint venture has received regulatory approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), and is subject to regulatory approval by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

It will be China Life's first joint venture in Chinese mainland with a foreign partner in funds management.

CLAMC is China's largest life insurance asset management company and also one of the largest institutional investors in China.

"Total assets under management in China's mutual fund industry is expected to reach A$0.8 trillion ($720 billion) in 2013 growing at 15 percent per annum to reach almost A$1.5 trillion in 2017," AMP said in a statement on Monday.

Recent regulatory changes in China allow insurance companies to establish funds management companies, offering public mutual funds to retail and institutional investors.

AMP chief executive Craig Dunn said in the statement that China is an important part of AMP's growth strategy focusing on international expansion through its funds management business AMP Capital.

"A funds management joint venture in China is a strategically significant move for AMP, giving us direct access to the world's second largest and fastest growing major economy," Dunn said.

"The funds management joint venture represents the commercialization of our memorandum of understanding with China Life and is the ideal balance of our mutual strengths and capabilities."

The joint venture means AMP Capital now has an institutional and retail presence in Australia, China and Japan.