US asset manager Vanguard Group will close its Hong Kong and Japan operations and cut jobs across both locations as it shifts its Asian headquarters to Shanghai, it said.

The largest mutual fund company, with roughly $6 trillion in assets under management, said in a statement its Hong Kong business mostly served institutional clients and not retail investors, which are its primary focus.

Hong Kong has been home to Vanguard’s main office in Asia after the index fund giant closed its Singapore operation in 2018. It said the departure from the Asian financial hub would take between six months and two years.

The move comes as US-China relations are strained over issues including trade, territorial disputes and individual freedoms in Hong Kong. Asked if events in Hong Kong played a role in its decisions, Vanguard spokeswoman Dana Grosser said via email that Vanguard still sees growth potential in the city.

“Hong Kong is an important global financial center, and continues to be an important international capital market for Vanguard,” she wrote. The city’s stock market “will remain as a critical component for Vanguard’s global diversified funds” while its securities channels will still provide access to Chinese stock and bond markets, she said.

Vanguard is seeking a “Fund Management Company” license to serve retail investors directly in the mainland. It had launched a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) in China in May 2017, and announced a China advisory joint venture in December 2019 with the country’s leading fintech company, now known as Ant Group, to provide retail investment advisory services.

Daniel Wiener, who edits a newsletter for Vanguard investors, said its move to Shanghai could help gain favor with the Chinese government. “No doubt it would look more favorably on a company operating directly on homeland soil,” he said via email.

Vanguard said it would exit its Hong Kong ETF (exchange-traded fund), mandatory provident fund and index-tracking investment schemes businesses.

Reuters