BlackRock Fund Management Co. Ltd., BlackRock's wholly owned fund management subsidiary in Shanghai, became the first foreign money manager to launch a mutual fund on the mainland for local investors Tuesday.
BlackRock said in an emailed statement the BlackRock China New Horizon Mixed Securities Investment Fund was established Tuesday after raising 6.68 billion yuan ($1 billion) over an offering period that extended from Aug. 30 through Sept. 3.
A BlackRock spokeswoman said in line with local market conventions, the fund will be closed to additional investments for three months while that initial 6.68 billion yuan is put to work. It will then be open to follow-on investments.
The company, in an Aug. 20 news release, said the fund will seek long-term capital appreciation investing in Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed A-shares stocks with a focus on growth sectors such as "new energy, mass consumption, digital transformation, retirement and industrial innovation."
Chi Zhang, the general manager of BlackRock Fund Management, in the statement, called the reception the firm's first fund offering has gotten from local investors "extremely encouraging."
