Aberdeen Asset wins licence for broader access to Chinese equities

SINGAPORE, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Aberdeen Asset Management PLC (Other OTC: ABDNF - news) said on Friday its Asian unit has been given a Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor licence (RQFII) and plans to launch a China A share investment fund.

The licence will allow Aberdeen to invest in Chinese securities using offshore yuan.

The RQFII programme is part of China's move to liberalise its capital markets, and is generally seen as giving easier access to onshore Chinese markets than the QFII scheme, which Aberdeen is already a part of.

The RQFII scheme was extended to funds in Singapore along with London, Taiwan and other locations in July 2013. Singapore-based Aberdeen Asset Management Asia is one of the first few funds from Singapore to be accepted into the scheme since that extension.

The asset manager said that until recently most of its focus in Chinese equities had been on stocks listed in Hong Kong or domiciled overseas due to corporate governance concerns, but it has now identified more onshore companies that would meet its quality threshold.

"We could now pull together a portfolio of 20-25 stocks with which we would be comfortable, and with low cross-over with our existing fund," said Aberdeen's Asia managing director Hugh Young.

Aberdeen said it has applied for a 600 million yuan ($100 million) investment quota, but the actual sum it will be allowed will not be confirmed until November.

(1 US dollar = 6.1333 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Rachel Armstrong; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)