Vanguard Group Inc, the US asset-management giant, is to shutter its remaining business in China after a retreat two years ago, people familiar with the matter said, abandoning a 27 trillion yuan (US$3.9 trillion) fund market that global competitors are embracing.
The Malvern, Pennsylvania-based firm has notified the Chinese government of intentions to shutter its unit in Shanghai, the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private.
The company also is planning to exit a robo-advisory joint venture with Jack Ma (馬雲)-backed Ant Group Co (螞蟻集團), the people said.
Photo: Reuters
The moves would mark a complete exit from China for the US$7.1 trillion giant, which once saw significant potential in the world’s second-largest economy.
The reversal stands as a cautionary tale for global peers including BlackRock Inc and Fidelity International Ltd, which are still racing to build up local operations as the nation’s recovery and a new pension reform brighten prospects.
Vanguard said that its Shanghai unit and the joint venture are operating normally.
Ant and representatives of the joint venture said the same.
All three declined to comment further.
The Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission did not immediately reply to a request seeking comment.
Caixin reported Vanguard’s plans earlier.
A complete retreat would follow Vanguard’s surprise move two years ago to scrap plans for a mutual-fund management license in China.
Fidelity and Neuberger Berman Group have recently joined Blackrock in launching onshore funds through new wholly owned units, while Manulife Financial Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley have gained approvals to buy out local partners to gain full control of existing ventures.
The race for fund advisory is heating up with more players coming in, hurting profitability. Vanguard’s venture, which has been offering only products from competitors, booked a loss in 2021 that was much higher than an internal forecast made after it was set up in 2019. Vanguard owns 49 percent of it.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
RSS