Analysis: Global Asset Managers Split Over China Mutual Fund Strategy

Schroders PLC’s looming exit from China’s wholly foreign-owned mutual fund sector is laying bare a sharp strategic divide among global asset managers: While some are retreating from a high-cost, crowded market, rivals are doubling down.

The transfer of three mutual funds from Schroder Fund Management (China) Co. Ltd. to Neuberger Berman Fund Management (China) Ltd. earlier this month paved the way for Schroders’ withdrawal from the independent mutual fund sector, just four years after the local unit was established. It had struggled to scale, managing only 1.7 billion yuan ($251 million) by the end of March.