Chinese Fintech Ant Financial Announced Venture with Vanguard

SHANGHAI, China – The FinTech company based on Hangzhou, China, Ant Financial Services Group, announced establishing a new venture with The Vanguard Group, a registered investment advisor and asset management firm in the US.

The Ant Financial Services Group is an affiliate company of the e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group in China, established in 2014, and is considered as the highest valued FinTech firm all over the world, with a valuation of around $150 billion.

On Saturday, both the Ant Financial Services Group and The Vanguard Group made a statement, announcing that, together, they have established a venture that aims to provide access to retail investment advisory services all over China.

The recent announcement from both companies solidifies the idea of a joint venture. Previously, the plan of both companies to join forces in offering their services in China was only listed in an online national directory. Although it has hinted on the specifics of what the joint venture will be, once it is finalized. In the online registry data, it is said that the company would give access to customized services to countless investors based on several factors including investment objective, time horizons, and individual risk preferences.

From the recent statement from both companies, the joint venture between the Ant Financial Services Group and The Vanguard Group will provide services, which will accept 800 yuan (USD 113.65) as the minimum investment. The service will then be accessible to investors through the Alipay app for Ant Financial, according to the statement provided.

Before their joint venture with the Ant Financial Services Group, Vanguard has previously branched in China. With its valuation of $5 trillion in assets that are under management, in May 2017, Vanguard has launched WFOE (wholly foreign-owned enterprise) in China.

On the other hand, the Ant Financial Services Group is a giant in its industry, with a 1.13 trillion yuan in terms of net assets, recorded back in 2018. The company was first launched as a third-party payment provider and is now operating Yu’ebao, which is considered as the biggest money market fund in the world.

According to the CEO of the joint venture, Peter Zhang, the service looks forward to serving the wealth management industry in China, especially towards investors in the country who still has no access to professional and quality investment advisory services.

The joint venture brings together two leaders in the industry to showcase both of their strengths, something that all retail investors in China will benefit a lot from.