Bangkok--27 Oct--KAsset
Thailand allocated a RMB50 billion quota in December 2015 -
Kasikorn Asset Management Co., Ltd. (KAsset) and HSBC today announced that KAsset had secured the first Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) quota in Thailand, which is designed to open up China's onshore securities markets to overseas financial institutions using renminbi (RMB).
The regulatory approval makes KAsset the first Thailand investor in China under the RQFII programme, allowing the asset management company to invest in China's on shore securities markets by using renminbi.
HSBC is providing local custodian services to KAsset and in doing so added another first to its RQFII credentials by becoming the first custodian bank in China to service a RQFII based in Thailand.
In December 2015, China announced it had extended the RQFII programme to Thailand with a quota of RMB50 billion (USD7.8 billion) being allocated. As KAsset's onshore custodian bank in China, HSBC facilitated its application for the RQFII Thailand license.
Ian Banks, Head of Securities Services, Asia Pacific, HSBC, said: "We are delighted to be working with Kasikorn Asset Management as the first RMB Qualified Institutional Investor in Thailand. This development marks another exciting step in the opening up of China's capital markets."
As of September 2016, HSBC was the custodian bank for RMB 266.3 billion of approved investment quota for RQFIIs, which was equivalent to 52.09 per cent of the total amount approved.
HSBC has recorded a number of "firsts" in servicing institutional investors, including being the first custodian bank servicing RQFII's in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Korea, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the UK; and the first foreign custodian bank servicing RQFIIs in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Mr. Vasin Vanichvoranun, Executive Chairman of KASIKORN ASSET MANAGEMENT (KAsset), said that, "KAsset is upbeat about the Chinese economic performance. The RQFII license recently granted to KAsset will enable us to invest directly in Chinese stock markets, as well as bonds issued by Chinese financial institutions, which will increase our investment frontier, allowing us to select bonds that offer more attractive yields. Early in 2017, KAsset is also planning to issue new funds investing in Asian bonds. Preliminarily, we expect to invest largely in Chinese government bonds and perhaps in bonds issued by Chinese companies."
Mr. Vasin added that KAsset's current investments in China are a step towards expanding into direct offshore investments. KAsset has been successful in investing directly in ASEAN stocks, too, via the K-AEC Fund, which has resulted in KAsset becoming the market leader as an issuer of multiple funds with globally-diverse investments. As of the end of June 2016, KAsset's net asset in foreign investment funds (excluding fixed-term funds) totaled THB121.93 billion, putting KAsset in number one position with the market share of 34.79 percent. (Source: Morningstar, June 30, 2016).
In recent years, KAsset has primarily invested in China's stock markets via Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) and master fund, being our primary fund. In the bond markets, we have invested in deposits of Chinese banks via Hong Kong and Macau branches.