By Susan Li and Chia-Peck Wong (Agencies/China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-24 10:00

Value Partners Group Ltd, the first asset manager to sell stock in Hong Kong, may offer investment products together with shareholder Ping An Insurance (Group) Co to tap China's $2.3 trillion of household savings.

"The relationship with Ping An Insurance Group is strategic in nature," Franco Ngan, CEO of Hong Kong-based Value Partners, said in an interview. "We do intend to explore business cooperation opportunities, particularly in relation to offering investment products in the mainland market."

Fund management companies are expanding in China, where economic growth four times the pace of the United States is boosting disposable incomes. Bank of New York Mellon Corp, the world's biggest asset custodian, said on November 21 it's starting a venture with a Chinese company to sell funds to individual investors.

China's soaring stock market helped Ping An's third-quarter profit more than quadruple to 3.6 billion yuan, the company said last month. Growth in premiums has enabled Ping An to move more money into equity investments.

Ping An Insurance paid HK$1.1 billion for a 9 percent stake in Value Partners. Ngan declined to elaborate more on the products the firm may offer with Ping An, citing China's regulatory environment.

With $5.7 billion of assets under management, the Hong Kong company was ranked by Alpha magazine as Asia's second-biggest hedge fund manager by the amount of money it oversees.

Ping An has said it wants to make insurance, banking and asset management the three pillars of its business.

Value Partners, which invested about 88 percent of assets it manages in China as of June 30, will gradually move more investments into other parts of Asia-Pacific, Ngan said in the interview.