New Office
Pictet AM Opens Wholly-Owned Foreign Enterprise In Shanghai

The Swiss private bank's asset management arm has opened a new operation in Shanghai, opening the route to raising funds from domestic mainland investors to invest in the firm's offshore strategies.
Pictet Asset Management, part of Switzerland’s Pictet, has opened a wholly
foreign-owned enterprise in Shanghai, an example of Western firms
pushing into the Asian giant’s economy.
Once registration is obtained from the Asset Management
Association of China, the new operation will be permitted to
raise funds from domestic mainland investors to invest in the
firm’s offshore strategies under the Qualified Domestic Limited
Partners programme.
Pictet AM has been investing onshore for global clients via
several programmes, such as the Renminbi Qualified Foreign
Institutional Investor programme, Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock
Connect, Bond Connect and China Interbank Bond Market (CIBM)
Direct Access. Pictet has also co-operated with onshore global
banks under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor scheme.
In July, Pictet AM launched its first northbound fund – Pictet
Strategic Income under the Mutual Recognition of Funds (MRF)
scheme.
“The expansion into China represents a significant milestone in
the 215 year history of Pictet. We are encouraged by the prospect
of the country’s asset management industry, which has developed
into one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing, thanks to
China’s economic strength and its rate of capital accumulation,”
Renaud de Planta, senior partner of Pictet, said.
“The global macro environment is not without challenges but given
the group’s financial strength and our long-term commitment to
the China market, we remain confident that now is the time for us
to take this important step,” he added.
In early September this year Pictet reported first half 2020
operating income of SFr1.328 billion ($1.46 billion), up by 4 per
cent on the same period last year. Total pre-tax expenses rose by
7 per cent to SFr1.009 billion, leaving net profit down by just 1
per cent for the half year at SFr 262 million. Profits were down
by 10 per cent in 2019. Managed assets at the Swiss firm
dropped to SFr559 billion to the end of June, down from SFr 576
billion managed at 31 December 2019.