The first international financial enterprise to settle its headquarters in China on the North Bund for management | Manulife | Enterprise
On June 29th, Hongli Investment Management, a Fortune 500 company and a century old financial store, officially settled in the North Bund of Hongkou District.
The North Bund is located in the southern riverside area at the intersection of the "One River, One River" in Hongkou District. Currently, it is developing in a staggered manner with the Bund and Lujiazui, forming the "Golden Triangle" of the international financial center.
It is understood that Manulife Financial Group has been deeply involved in the mainland Chinese market for over 30 years, and its business covers various aspects such as insurance, public offerings, and private equity. In 1897, as a major foreign insurance company in China, Manulife sold its first Asian policy in Shanghai. In 1996, Manulife established China's first foreign-funded insurance joint venture - Zhonghong Insurance. It now operates in more than 50 cities and 14 provinces, with over 2000 employees and 15000 agents, serving 2.6 million customers in China. In 2017, Manulife launched a wholly foreign-owned enterprise business in Shanghai. Last November, Manulife Fund Management Company was approved and became the first public fund management company in China to convert a joint venture into a wholly-owned foreign investment.
Du Wengao, the business head of Manulife Wealth and Asset Management in Asia, stated that the North Bund of Hongkou will be a highly strategic base. Manulife Investment Management will take the opportunity of settling in Hongkou and use its wholly-owned entity as a platform to connect global expertise with Chinese talent and local realities, accelerating growth in the Chinese market.
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At present, Manulife Investment Management is mainly responsible for the global asset management business under Manulife Finance, which is specifically divided into three business lines: retail asset management, institutional asset management, and pension asset management. Especially in the field of pension asset management, Manulife Investment Management is the top MPF manager in the Hong Kong market in China.
In Du Wengao's view, China, like many other Asian countries, is rapidly aging. At present, China is focusing on promoting the policy of individual pension accounts. It is expected that the total private pension market in China will grow to 2.1 trillion US dollars by 2025 and 3.1 trillion US dollars by 2030, which holds enormous potential. As a global wealth and asset management company with an insurance background, Manulife Investment Management will leverage its global asset allocation expertise to launch multi asset, life cycle target date funds and other products, striving to create stable and sustainable income for Chinese clients.
Li Qian, Secretary of the Hongkou District Committee, stated that Hongkou District is focusing on the strategic goals of "Shanghai North Bund and Pujiang Golden Triangle" and is striving to build a wealth management highland in the North Bund. In just over a decade, Hongkou Finance has achieved a magnificent transformation from scratch to excellence, and the financial industry has become an important support for the economic development and industrial function enhancement of the Hongkou region. In recent years, with a group of internationally renowned investment institutions settling in Hongkou, the internationalization level of Hongkou's financial industry has been continuously improving. Manulife Investment Management has settled in the North Bund, marking the first Chinese headquarters of an international financial enterprise in history to settle in the North Bund. This marks another crucial step for the North Bund in accelerating the optimization and layout of regional financial functions. I hope that taking the signing ceremony as an opportunity, Manulife Investment Management can actively participate in the development and construction of the North Bund, gradually concentrating its elderly care business in China in the North Bund area.