China’s second-largest asset management firm, E Fund Management, is preparing to launch the mainland’s inaugural registered hedge fund, reports Bloomberg. By tapping into the wealth of high net worth individuals, E Fund, with USD29 billion in assets, will set up separate managed accounts to pursue investment strategies akin to hedge funds, hedging market risk “through stock index futures and other tools”. It will, then, become China’s first institutionalized hedge fund product. “This is opening up a new market seeking absolute returns, which could be quite attractive in a market that’s been volatile,” Dong Yiting, a senior analyst at Guosen Securities Co, told Bloomberg.