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10 key trends in asset management industry

For those following China’s asset management industry, 2022 was a year full of changes, and EY professionals have identified 10 key trends in this industry and provided opinions.

The industry remained resilient in 2022 and managed to stay on its long-term growth trajectory, finishing 2022 with a five-year compounded annualized growth rate of 7%. We expect the long-term macro factors, including the deepening of the capital market, growing investor awareness and appreciation for professional asset management services, and improved distribution outreach, will continue to fuel the industry growth.

Mutual funds are still the core of the industry. They remained the biggest sector of China’s asset management industry and managed to grow despite increased volatilities in the stock market and the consequent pressure on fund returns.

In this report, we identify 10 key trends and give our take on how each of them will shape the future of the industry:

  1. Industry remains resilient
  2. Mutual funds are still the core
  3. “Fixed income plus” wanes
  4. Demand for alternative assets continues to grow
  5. The fastest growing business just gets faster, but requires new approach
  6. ESG investments take roots
  7. More cross-border fund flow and more foreign managers
  8. High regulatory oversight continues, which could be a good thing for asset managers
  9. FIA offers new hope but requires immediate attention and investments
  10. Other types of asset managers will keep making inroads

Download China asset management report 2023


Summary

Most of the development in 2022 felt like a carryover of the changes started in 2018. But 2022 also saw these developments obtaining new dimensions. The eruptive growth between 2013 and 2018 and the vertical plunge since 2018 now feel almost like a massive hangover. Different sectors of the industry came out of the cycle at different speed but now they all have to embark on a new journey. When compliance and prudence are accepted as an ideal that transcends the industry, managers will gain a new perspective of investors, competition, technology, and not to mention, regulation itself.

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