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Chinese fall head over heels for mutual funds

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-12 11:23

Subscriptions to new mutual funds hit a record high on Tuesday, pulverizing the record set in December last year.

Neixu Dongli (literally "domestic demand incentives") Fund, a new mutual fund issued by Shanghai-based China International Fund Management Co, took in a record 90 billion yuan (US$11.7 billion) of subscriptions,company sources said on Wednesday.

A stellar operator on China's capital markets last year, China International Fund Management Co. is a joint venture between Shanghai International Trust and Investment Co. and JP Morgan Asset Management (UK) Limited.

On December 7, a mutual fund issued by Harvest Fund Management took in 42 billion yuan.

Industry observers said the huge subscription proved that investors were dizzyingly optimistic about prospects for domestic equity markets.

Late last year China imposed a two-month suspension in approval of new mutual funds after the then-record subscription to the Harvest Fund Management fund, amid worries that speculators were causing stock prices to rise too fast.

The nation's securities watchdog has ordered mutual fund managers and sellers to help individual investors better understand the risks involved in buying stocks.

A special investor education fund should be established by each fund management company, said the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

In early February the industry regulator provided the China Securities Industry Association and fund management companies and banks with a document about educating retail fund investors.

According to the document, the awareness program can include TV, newspaper, magazine and Internet ads, publicity pamphlets and outdoor ads.

The education drive should help investors understand their own financial circumstances, and also better understand markets and the development history of funds and fund management companies, according to the document.

Fund sellers are encouraged to make buyers aware of risks.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 130 percent last year and has jumped 27.6 percent so far this year.

Reports show that mutual funds raised more than 400 billion yuan on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses last year as retail investors shifted cash holdings from low-interest bank deposits to the markets.

China has more than 320 mutual funds.