The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund industry association, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).
The MoU, which was signed in Beijing on 18 June 2014, is the first of its kind signed by AMAC with an international organisation.
The MoU outlines areas of future cooperation between the associations and highlights their joint commitment to strengthening the exchange and cooperation of the Chinese and international fund management industries.
The MoU signing was part of a five-day trip to Beijing by senior AIMA representatives during which AIMA was also appointed to AMAC’s newly formed International Partners Committee (IPC). The IPC’s inaugural meeting was followed by AMAC’s annual conference at which AIMA CEO Jack Inglis gave a keynote speech on the regulation of hedge funds in capital markets.
The week concluded with the first International Hedge Fund Leadership Forum in Beijing, a conference jointly hosted by AIMA and AMAC, which examined some of the current regulatory, operational and marketing challenges facing the international hedge fund community.
Inglis says: “The signing of the MoU with AMAC, as well as the holding of our first major event in Beijing, underlines AIMA’s commitment to engaging with industry professionals, regulators and policymakers in China and the region. We have of course taken a very strong and active interest in China for some time. A number of our existing members have established offices within the PRC and there is considerable interest from firms within the domestic industry to join AIMA. Our most important educational paper, AIMA’s ‘Roadmap to Hedge Funds’, has been translated into Chinese, while our largest national group globally, AIMA Hong Kong, has been actively engaged in China for a number of years.
“We are very much looking forward to working more closely with our colleagues at the Asset Management Association of China, and I would like to pay a special tribute to the chairman of AMAC, Dr Sun Jie, for helping to foster such a warm and collaborative relationship between our two organisations.”
Dr Sun Jie, AMAC chairman, says: “As the main trade association of China’s asset management industry, AMAC has been developing close cooperative relationships with international counterparts and we are pleased to celebrate our strong relationship with AIMA through the signing of our first international MoU with them.
“In June 2013, the Funds Law was extended to cover non-public funds; and after the ‘nine-points’ policy issued by the State Council, the hedge fund industry in China is facing a historic market opportunity and huge development space.
“Through the signing of this AIMA/AMAC MoU, as well as our co-hosting of the first International Hedge Fund Leadership Forum with AIMA, we look forward to jointly building up an exchange platform for onshore and offshore industry participants; and facilitating the sound and sustainable development of the hedge fund industry in China.”
