China International Capital Corporation (CICC) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 50.1% majority stake in Krane Funds Advisors (KraneShares), a US asset management firm best known for its China focused ETFs.
Mingjian Bi, acting chairman and CEO of CICC.
CICC was founded in 1995 by China Construction Bank and Morgan Stanley and was the first investment bank formed through a China-US joint venture. CICC serves corporate, institutional, government, and wealth management clients in China.
“We are a Chinese investment bank with unique international DNA,” said Mingjian Bi, acting chairman and CEO of CICC. “Our entry into the US asset management and ETF industry with KraneShares’ platform represents a remarkable opportunity for us to provide high quality investment products and services to our clients, including individuals, advisors, and institutions, domestically and overseas. We are excited to have this opportunity to significantly grow KraneShares and the CICC business in the United States and globally.”
“KraneShares is proud to join forces with CICC,” added Jonathan Krane, CEO of KraneShares. “CICC and KraneShares are both singularly focused on China. We share the same mission of building a trusted bridge of financial knowledge and expertise between the United States and China. We believe the combined company will be the premier source for China investment products and research globally.”
Among its ETF product range, KraneShares offers the KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (Nasdaq: KWEB), which holds some of the most innovative global technology companies including Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent. It currently holds over $560 million in assets under management (AUM) and has a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.72%.
KraneShares was also the first to issue an MSCI-linked China A share ETF in the United States – the KraneShares Bosera MSCI China A Share ETF (KBA) is comprised of stocks listed on the Shanghai & Shenzhen exchanges and tracks the MSCI China A International Index. It has AUM of over $200m and a TER of 0.64%.