Exclusive | Wealth Management Connect revamp sent cross-border investment skyrocketing, says ICBC

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The amount of money traded under the scheme quadrupled to 50.7 billion yuan (US$7 billion) in the first four months of the year, according to government data

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ICBC Asia has seen a fourfold increase in the number of customers opening accounts under the Wealth Management Connect initiative. Photo: Bloomberg

Enoch Yiu

Published: 8:30pm, 5 Jul 2024

Improvements to the Wealth Management Connect scheme in February have proven to be a game-changer, with investment via the cross-border trading channel jumping by four times between January and April, according to the government data and industry players.

The amount of money traded under the scheme quadrupled to 50.7 billion yuan (US$7 billion) in the first four months of the year, while the number of investors using it rose 60 per cent to 110,000, according to government data.

ICBC Asia, a key user of the mechanism, has seen a fourfold increase in the number of customers opening accounts under the initiative and a tenfold leap in assets under management since measures to enhance it were introduced by Beijing, said Jimmy Jim Wai-kee, managing executive officer and head of the lender’s global market department.

“We were very happy to see the enhancements of the Wealth Management Connect scheme,” Jim said in an interview on the sidelines of the South China Morning Post’s China Conference on Thursday.

“People are really making use of the cross-border scheme to capture the opportunity offshore, namely in Hong Kong and in international markets. The demand is huge.”

Launched in 2021, the mechanism allows residents of Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province to invest directly in designated wealth management products across borders.