On May 6, 2015, Hongde Select Growth Fund (fund code: 001256), the first fund formed after Hongde Fund Management Co., Ltd. (Hongde Fund), was founded, was launched into the market. With RMB120mln of registered capital, Hongde Fund was collectively formed by Sunshine Insurance Group, Wang Dexiao and another four corporate investors. Wang holds the largest stake, at 26%; while Sunshine Insurance Group holds the second largest, at 25%. The company was registered on March 3; on March 12, it received Certificate of Fund Management Qualification from China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”). 

In December 2013, the State Council released “Reply to Questions Regarding the Management of Fund Management Companies Engaged in Public Offering of Funds”, which stipulates that in fund management companies in which major shareholders are natural persons, individual natural person’s financial assets should be no less than RMB30mln and the said natural person should have more than 10 years of working experience in asset management sector, domestic or overseas. Last June, CSRC explicitly voiced its support for professionals to set up fund management companies in “Opinion on Vigorously Pushing forward Innovative Development of Securities Investment Fund Industry”. Hongde Fund was established following the release of these two important documents. It is the first public fund management company in which its first major shareholder is a fund management professional. It is also the second fund management company to include an insurance company as a shareholder. 

A Dacheng team led by Beijing-based senior partner Liu Xinde advised Sunshine Insurance Group on the formation of Hongde Fund. The attorneys conducted due diligence on the shareholders, reviewed legal documents, and submitted opinion letters on compliance issues to China Insurance Regulatory Commission.