Capital Market Thought Leader Dr. Frank Zheng Sheds Light On The Future of Asset Management in China

Online, March 27, 2013 (Newswire.com) - While wealth creation has made large numbers of people rich in China, many of them are finding it difficult to find satisfactory investment options at home to secure their holdings and find peace of mind. This has led to a large pool of money that other countries are keen to attract, and a consequent rapid growth in China's asset management sector.

As part of its ongoing webinar series providing business intelligence and experienced China market expertise, Z. H. TANK speaks at length with Dr. Frank Zheng, Executive Partner and Chairman of Greater China Region, Greenfield Capital Group.

Zheng opens by shedding light on the enabling factors behind the growth in demand for offshore asset management among China's HNWIs. These lie in the unique regulatory conditions that act as a ceiling on the upward potential of onshore investments, namely the perceived insecurity of onshore investment avenues; the high level of inheritance tax; and fears that upward pressure has distorted the valuation of onshore assets, raising questions among savvy HNWIs about their long-term performance.

Having established the onshore pressure points, Zheng turns to what he calls the "blue ocean" of offshore investment that is increasingly attractive to Chinese HNWIs, particularly now that overall jurisdictions are taking a more tolerant attitude toward immigration and China is signing more double taxation agreements.

Zheng then lays out his own ideas on what makes a good investment, urging people not to underestimate the potential return on more traditional areas such as land, real estate and natural resources - particularly forestry.

"My philosophy is based around not how much money you can earn, but rather how much compound interest you can earn," Zheng says.

In a humorous aside, Zheng ranks the investment potential of four groups, starting with fixed-income employees at the low end; professionals who, though they have more marketable skills, have the challenge of a natural ceiling for the incomes they can command; entrepreneurs, who have the freedom to pursue investments but must do so actively; and then full-time investors, who can make their money work in a more passive manner.

Returning to the opportunities in the field of asset management, particularly that which is offshore-focused, Zheng notes that domestic Chinese service providers have an unparallelled understanding of their local clients and the regulatory system. However, Zheng warns against expecting too much too soon for the domestic sector. Rather, due to the cross-border nature of the business, the smart move is for local providers to partner with international firms in order to gain overseas experience, which eventually will lead to them becoming truly international.

ABOUT Dr. Frank Zheng:

Dr. Zheng is a leading expert on the international capital market, with extensive experience in corporate finance, real estate finance, private equity fund management, and alternative asset management.

Dr. Zheng has worked as Partner of Blue Ocean Capital; Managing Director of Alliance PKU Capital; and Executive Partner and Chairman of China Region, Greenfield Capital Group Inc.

Academic titles include Alexander von Humboldt Fellow of Germany; Research Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Guest Postdoctoral Supervisor of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Guest Professor of Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiaotong University.

About Z. H. TANK
Z. H. TANK is an online library of webinars for Chinese elite business executives and professionals to sharpen their management know-how. Through customized webinars, homegrown and global industry leaders share with the audience the latest trends, best practices, hot topics, and technologies that impact the world of business. The bilingual library of webinars also aims to enable the seamless integration between global perspective, know-how and local business wisdom. Z. H. TANK is a sibling brand of China business intelligence specialist Z. H. STUDIO.

Media Contact:
Lan SHEN
Z. H. STUDIO