Bill's Focus

This is frightening

The following article is from a financial newsletter I subscribe to called “Seeking Alpha”. At the same time that Charlie Munger (partner with Warren Buffet at Berkshire Hathaway) is pitching investment in Chinese automakers, Vanguard makes this stunning announcement. I don’t like the tea leaves I am reading.

“Vanguard, the world’s second largest exchange traded fund issuer announced that it will be shutting down its operations in China. The Pennsylvania based asset manager told Chinese authorities of its intention to close its Shanghai office.

The news comes roughly two years after the firm stated that it would not follow through on building up a fund management unit in the area. The retraction from China leaves approximately 27 trillion yuan or $3.9T on the table for competitor investors to grab.

Vanguard also stated that it intends to withdraw itself from a robo-advisory joint venture with Jack Ma’s Ant Group.

Vanguard with its $7T assets under management looks to remain focused on markets away from China in hopes to bolster its assets in some of Wall Street’s most popular funds.”

If anyone reading this can shed some light on this decision, I would appreciate your observations and comments.
Vanguard plans to exit Chinese fund market