China sees expanding tech-driven asset management market: report

BEIJING - The size of China's intelligent asset management market driven by new technologies is expected to hit 737 billion yuan ($107 billion) by 2022, a market research report has said.

The country's intelligent asset management industry posted considerable growth at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 191 percent over the past three years, according to a report released jointly by Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange Co Ltd and iResearch, a Chinese market research company.

The market size surged from 30.07 billion yuan in 2016 to 254.7 billion yuan in 2018 and is expected to continue the rapid increase at a CAGR of over 30 percent in the next four years.

Compared with brick-and-mortar financial institutions offering face-to-face investment consultation, intelligent asset management features the utilization of cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, machine learning and big data in financial products and services, aiming to improve operation efficiency and customer experience, the report said.

Tech-driven asset management products and services include artificial intelligence (AI) advisory services, product match based on consumer risk preferences and customized investor education.

The report attributed the great potential of China's intelligent asset management market partly to an increasingly richer and tech-savvy population with rising demand for more customized wealth management services.

The disposable income of Chinese residents jumped from 18,311 yuan in 2013 to 28,228 yuan last year, the report said.

Factors including the shortcomings of traditional asset management services such as the lack of professionals and China's supportive policies encouraging the convergence of technologies and finance also drove the development of intelligent asset management, it said.