ChinaAMC bolsters QDII team with Fidelity hire

Sep 23, 2009

ChinaAMC gets serious about putting together a viable international offering for investors with the hire of Anthony Ho.

Fidelity Investments may be making slow progress on furthering its supposed plans for a China joint venture and distributing its offshore products to QDII platforms. And, once again, its Hong Kong institutional team has proven to be a favourite poaching ground for Chinese fund firms.

Anthony Ho, head of institutional investment at Fidelity in Hong Kong, has left the firm to become deputy chief executive at China Asset Management's branch in Hong Kong, he said on the sidelines of AsianInvestor's second annual institutional investment forum in Beijing this week.

The last time a senior executive was poached from Fidelity was in 2007 when head of institutional business Eric Fu left to join mainland number two firm China Southern.

At ChinaAMC, Ho will report to Cheng Haiyong, previously deputy chief investment officer at ChinaAMC in Beijing and now ChinaAMC's head of international investments in charge of its new QDII segregated business in Hong Kong.

Ho is tasked with raising the firm's overseas investment and research capabilities to global standards and spearheading the development of a global product offering that ChinaAMC can market to international investors.

Before joining ChinaAMC, Ho worked for Fidelity for about 15 years, 14 of which were in investment management. He has worked in Fidelity's offices in Hong Kong, Boston and London. Prior to becoming a manager for institutional portfolios, he had been a director of research and senior investment analyst for Fidelity's Hong Kong and London investment teams. In his last year at Fidelity, he took on an institutional marketing role, reporting to Chris Ryan, Fidelity's Asia ex-Japan and ex-Australia business head.

Ho's arrival underlines ChinaAMC's determination to up its game in the competition for QDII business among its Chinese peers and attract new foreign investment business.

Before Harvest announced its surprise buy of Deutsche Asset Management's Asian investment platforms in July, ChinaAMC CEO Fan Yonghong told AsianInvestor he had plans to make ChinaAMC a strong regional competitor within three years.

Ho's departure from Fidelity follows an earlier return of another Fidelity veteran, Conrad Cheng. After a one-year stint with State Street Global Advisors, Cheng has rejoined Fidelity as head of institutional marketing in Hong Kong.