Recently, there have been rumors that Pacific Century is considering a majority stake in its asset management company, Berry Investment, which will affect its joint venture in the mainland, which has attracted widespread attention.
On February 6, China Banking and Insurance News interviewed the relevant person in charge of Yingke Development in response to this rumor. The person in charge said that Yingke has never planned to invest in the mainland business of Berry, and Li Zekai, chairman of the group, said that it will actively and continuously invest in the mainland market in the future.
Pinebridge Investments, formerly known as the asset management business unit of American International Group (AIG), was acquired and operated by Pacific Century in 2010. At present, Pinebridge Investments manages $157 billion in assets globally, of which about 50% are fixed income business, about 30% are equity investments, and the rest are alternative investments and other comprehensive categories.
The above-mentioned person in charge said that any adjustment to the global business of Pacific Century Development is to better allocate funds to invest in better quality industries, especially focusing on related areas in the mainland. For example, the Group will continue to actively explore and explore investment in sectors such as insurance and technology in the Mainland.
The mainland business of Berry Investment, named Huatai Berry, is a joint venture management company, with Huatai and Berry Investment holding 49% of the shares respectively, and Suzhou New Area High-tech Industry Co., Ltd. holding 2% of the shares. In recent years, Huatai Berry has performed well: from 2020 to 2022, Huatai Berry's net profit was 27.1 billion yuan, 41.3 billion and 37.9 billion yuan.
Pacific Century will not only expand the Mainland business of Berry Investment, but will continue to strengthen cooperation with other shareholders to fully support the company's development in a more comprehensive and stable direction. The person in charge of Yingke Development said that the performance of Berry Investment in the mainland has been outstanding, and Yingke Development and the other two mainland shareholders have maintained tacit cooperation for a long time.
It is understood that Huatai Berry mainly sells ETF products, and has the first equity ETF in the whole market to exceed 100 billion yuan - CSI 300 ETF, as well as a dividend-themed ETF product line with a complete layout and the first place in the whole market, and the business development in the mainland has been improving for a long time. In the past 10 years, its public offering products have earned a total profit of more than 50 billion yuan for holders, and it is one of the five largest companies in the market with the largest number of equity holdings held by institutions.