Chinese equities: Foreign retail investors cross the final frontier to the A-share market

New fund gives access to 1,353 listed companies on Shanghai and Shenzhen’s markets, compared with 118 H-share stocks and 88 red chips.

By Chris Wright

It’s the final frontier of Chinese investment. Foreign retail investors can now buy a managed fund that gives them access to China’s A-share market: the stocks previously only open to mainland nationals and a handful of tightly regulated foreign institutions.

JF Asset Management, part of JPMorgan, launched the JF China Pioneer A-Share Fund on June 19 for investors in Hong Kong, making it the first A-share fund to be authorized by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission.