Mutual funds and unit trust transactions, which dominate the “collective investment schemes” category, reached HK$65bn ($8.38bn) to 31 March 2014, according to a recent survey report by the Securities and Futures Commission.
The figures represent a 35% increase from HK$47bn during the same period in 2012, which is when the SFC did its previous survey.
The number of fund houses increased to 150 from 138 in 2012.
Fixed income products were also up. The total transaction amount (to 31 March) was HK$115bn compared to HK$97bn during the same period in 2012. The number of firms offering this product rose to 104 from 74 in 2012.
Structured investment products remain the dominant product category in Hong Kong, with a total transaction amount of HK$172 bn. However, this was down by almost half compared to 2012, when the category recorded HK$329bn in transactions.
Hong Kong’s aggregate transaction amount across all product categories was down 8% compared to 2012 figures. To 31 March, the figure was HK$468 billion compared HK$510bn during the same period in 2012.
According to the SFC, the main reason for the drop was “two international financial conglomerates no longer carried out the sale of investment products to individual investors via their SFC-licensed corporations” after they folded the financial products business into another division or sold it off.
The top 10 firms make up 79% (HK$371bn) of Hong Kong’s aggregate transaction value.
