CreditEase Wealth Management
At CreditEase, the number of clients and the assets under management both increased in 2019. The number of clients with at least Rmb1 million ($140,225) rose, helping assets under management top Rmb100 billion by the end of 2019, a year-on-year increase of more than 20%.
CreditEase was founded by Tang Ning, its current chief executive, but the wealth management arm is now run by co-presidents Hou Lin and Shang Xiao. The company conducts business in more than 40 Chinese cities and has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe, Israel and North America.
CreditEase provides Chinese high net-worth individuals with wealth management, investment and consulting services, covering a broad range of areas including cash management, fixed income, private equity, capital markets, real estate and insurance.
It offers multiple currencies to its clients, and dollar-denominated products made up more than half of its AuM.
Its international business has benefited from long-term relationships with Blackstone Group, Morgan Stanley, KKR, Tishman Speyer and Wellington Management, as well as partnerships with the likes of Amundi Asset Management.
The firm has continued to break new ground. It partnered with China Galaxy Securities in January 2019 and the local government of Sanya city, Hainan province, in April.
CreditEase’s fund of funds was one of the first to be included in the Rmb50 billion technology and innovation FoF set up by Qingdao city in Shandong province in May. The firm launched its first charities trust in Hangzhou last year.
CreditEase is able to provide family trust services not only in mainland China but also in the US. The number of family trusts it structured in 2019 rose 130% compared with the year before. Last year, CreditEase also launched its family office headquarters in Sanya.
CreditEase is a pioneer in China’s FoFs market, with over Rmb40 billion of AuM. While in terms of absolute size it may not be the largest, the characteristics and performance of its FoF products make it a worthy winner of our Wealth Manager for Fund of Funds award.
Its private equity FoF was highly diversified, with stakes in more than 200 funds globally. The investments were made, either directly or indirectly, in over 4,000 high-growth companies around the world, 200 of which were listed.
It worked closely with such well-known names as Blackstone, Wellington, Credit Suisse and other players such as French private equity company Ardian and US venture capital firm Ribbit Capital. By August 2019, over 90% of its private equity FoFs had a history of at least three years of delivering better returns than the industry average.
Home to almost 200 web development and data technology experts, CreditEase is also our pick for Asiamoney’s Best Wealth Manager for Technology award.
Fintech has always been at the core of CreditEase’s strategy and one of its key strengths. The CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund, a dual currency (renminbi and dollar) fund set up in 2016, has grown to more than Rmb6 billion in size. CreditEase also combines blockchain technology with its family trust business and social finance.
Last year, it upgraded its app to a 5.0 version, introducing new functions for both new and existing clients, with easier account-opening, online trading and appointment-making processes.
It has also continued its investments in an artificial intelligence platform that analyzes private equity funds and other investments. The system covers 25,000 Chinese institutions, 80,000 funds and two million corporations.