The agreement is the kind of move that Western firms are making to grab a share of Greater China’s wealth management sector.

Hong Kong-based BIPPO Group and Thornburg Investment Management have agreed to form a strategic partnership. The arrangement will provide high net worth clients in Greater China with premium global private wealth management and asset investment services.

The Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony was held earlier in June 2021 in Hong Kong at BIPPO’s headquarters. Shanshan Zheng, CEO of BIPPO, and Yong Zhang, co-head of Asia at Thornburg, entered into the agreement on behalf of the two organisations.

The move means that Thornburg is entering the private wealth management industry in Asia. For BIPPO, the partnership with Thornburg bolsters its resources and service offerings.

Thornburg will tailor risk and return expectations and provide investment portfolio construction and guidance on product strategy for BIPPO’s family trust clients. Thornburg will also use its capabilities to offer BIPPO clients arrangements related to capital requirements for account openings and a preferential management fee schedule. 

Founded in 1982, Thornburg Investment Management is a privately-owned global investment firm that offers a range of multi-strategy solutions for institutions and financial advisors. It oversees $49 billion in total: ($46.6 billion in assets under management and $1.9 billion in assets under advisement), as of 31 May 2021, across mutual funds, institutional accounts, separate accounts for high net worth investors and UCITS funds for non-US investors. Thornburg is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with additional offices in London, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

BIPPO Group, founded in 2015, is a boutique private wealth management group offering wealth planning and management solutions for Chinese clients.