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Investors' interest helps 2 funds reap US$2.33b

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-18 10:28

Hua An Fund Management Co and the local unit of US investment company Lord Abbett & Co raised a combined 18 billion yuan (US$2.33 billion) on the first day of equity fund sales, amid a boom in mutual funds.

Shanghai-based Hua An Fund Management raised 10 billion yuan selling units in a fund targeting small-capitalized stocks, and Lord Abbett China Asset Management Co raised eight billion yuan, the two firms announced in separate statements yesterday.

Both funds were closed to sales on Monday, as the amounts had reached the maximum initial sizes specified in prospectuses, the statements said.

China has seen a rising interest in mutual funds this year as investors shift money from bank deposits into a surging equities market that more than doubled last year, Bloomberg News said.

Investors ordered more than 45 billion yuan of units the two funds offered, said the Shanghai Securities News yesterday.

The CSI 300 Index, which tracks yuan-denominated A shares listed on China's two exchanges, has gained 61 percent so far this year after gaining 121 percent in 2006.

Investment in the nation's equities markets began surging after the government began a plan in 2005 to make US$200 billion of State-owned stock tradable, paving the way for purchases of shares in some of the nation's biggest companies.