Hong Kong, 18 December 2015 - GF International Investment Management Limited ("GFI") today announced that a flagship active balanced fund – GF Industry Leaders Mixed Assets Fund – managed by its parent company GF Fund Management ("GF Fund") has been registered with and approved by the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") and as such has joined the first batch of onshore Chinese funds that can be sold in Hong Kong under the Mutual Recognition of Funds ("MRF") scheme.
Incepted on November 23, 2010, the GF Industry Leaders Fund seeks to determine macro-economic cycles and industry life cycles and identify industries with promising development prospects or leading enterprises in a recovering industry for investment. It strives to achieve long-term stable value growth by selecting industries and individual stocks strategically based on industry cycles and at the same time emphasizing stock value and price. The fund mainly invests in the manufacturing, transportation, storage and postal service sectors. As at September 30, 2015, it had assets of 4.5 billion renminbi.
GFI is proud to be playing an active part in the MRF by joining the first batch of southbound onshore Chinese funds that can be sold in Hong Kong, and are honored to witness this milestone in the history of the fund industries in China and Hong Kong. Backed by our parent company GF Fund, which boasts strong investment capabilities coupled and a proven track record, the product will help overseas and Hong Kong investors capture the long-term investment potential of the A-share market, and as such allow GFI to strengthen its role as the bridge that connects China's capital market and investors worldwide.
The authorized fund has reported outstanding returns since inception. It delivered a year to date return of over 59.15%1, outperforming the benchmark CSI 300 in the same period of time. It will be available for subscription through various retail banks in the near future.
Liu Xiaolong, Fund Manager of GF Industry Leaders Mixed Assets Fund, said: "Although China's capital market has seen some fluctuation this year, the Chinese economy overall has been stable and in positive territory. Applying flexible yet cautious asset allocation and stock selection strategies, the GF fund can help investors tap into the macro economic cycle and industrial life cycles return potential, as it seeks to secure long-term stable value growth."
With the China and Hong Kong markets developing closer ties, demand for direct investment in the A-share market among Hong Kong investors has been increasing. However, most China equity funds available in Hong Kong focus on investing in Greater China, and the RQFII products in the market are mostly fixed income funds. GFI believes the active balanced fund the firm is bringing to Hong Kong can fill the demand gap, and looking forward, on top of selling the fund products of our parent company, GFI also plans to help distribute southbound fund products of other medium to small sized asset managers in China, or even partner with foreign asset managers to distribute northbound overseas fund products with the support of our parent company's extensive domestic distribution network. Our aim is to continue applying our professional investment strategies to create long-term stable returns for investors.