外资机构获准管理中国社保基金

英国《金融时报》弗洛瑞安·金贝尔(Florian Gimbel)香港报道
2006年11月30日 星期四

中国政府首次指定外国机构来管理其400亿美元国家养老基金的海外投资事宜。

预计此举将进一步增强中国在国际资本市场的影响力。

中国全国社会保障基金(NSSF)今日已授权10家国际集团管理其境外投资，其中包括瑞银环球资产管理公司(UBS)、Pimco、景顺投资管理有限公司(Invesco)、道富环球投资管理有限公司(State Street Global Advisors)、联博有限公司(AllianceBernstein)和贝莱德有限公司(BlackRock)。中国全国社保基金于2000年由中央政府建立，作为养老金的最后保障。

获得授权的机构可投资的对象包括全球股票、美国股票、香港股票和全球固定收益产品。外界普遍认为，这些授权类似于"授奖"，它可以让基金管理人从中国和全亚洲资金充裕的机构手中获得更多业务。

对美国的联博、道富环球、骏利资产管理(Janus)和普信资产管理(T. Rowe Price)等公司来说，新的授权还给它们带来了一个独一无二的机会。迄今为止，这些美国公司一直不愿支付高额代价，进入中国的国内基金市场，因为要进入这个市场，外国投资者就必须买入合资基金公司的少数股权。

专业研究公司Z-Ben Advisors的负责人彼得o亚历山大(Peter Alexander)说："有朝一日中国的全国社保基金将变得非常庞大，令拥有约1400亿美元资产的新加坡政府投资有限公司(Government of Singapore Investment Corporation)相形失色。"

中国全国社保基金的大部分资产都是通过中央政府的一项政策筹集而来的。该政策强制要求在海外上市的国有企业，将所筹资金的10% (以股票的形式)放入全国社保基金账户。

这一政策使得全国社保基金的投资组合高度集中。据Z-Ben Advisors分析，该基金总资产的40%都投在三家上市的中国国有银行，即中国工商银行(Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)、中国银行(Bank of China)和交通银行(Bank of Communications)。

分析师相信，投资管理人获得总计约15亿美元的初始配额，这些资产已存在香港的离案账户上。

据信，全国社保基金已通过售出所持部分银行股份，筹集了资金。比如，在工商银行香港上市首日，该基金卖出了6亿美元工行股份。

根据全国社保基金的官方资料，该基金共持有约270亿美元的资产，其中银行股份以成本价入账。考虑到这些银行股票近几个月的大幅上涨，该基金资产总值估计已增至400亿美元。

随着人口快速老龄化和出生率的下降，中国正面临一场养老金危机。香港养老金专家、中国政府顾问李仕达(Stuart Leckie)认为，中国目前只有约10年的"人口结构机会窗口"(demographic window of opportunity)，来完善其初创的养老金体系。

译者/力文

CHINA WIDENS PENSION MANDATES

By Florian Gimbel in Hong Kong

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Beijing has for the first time appointed foreign institutions to manage the overseas investments of its $40bn state pension fund.

The move is expected to further strengthen China's clout in international capital markets.

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF), established in 2000 by the central government as a pension fund of last resort, has handed investment mandates to 10 international groups - including UBS, Pimco, Invesco, State Street, Alliance Bernstein, and Black Rock.

The mandates - including global equity, US equity, Hong Kong equity and global fixed income - are widely seen as "trophies" that could allow fund managers to win further business from cash-rich institutions in China and across Asia.

The new mandates also offer a unique opportunity for US companies such as Alliance Bernstein, State Street, Janus and T Rowe Price.

They have so far avoided a costly foray into China's domestic fund market, where foreigners are required to buy minority stakes in fund joint ventures.

Peter Alexander, head of Z-Ben Advisors, a specialist research firm, said: "The NSSF will one day become so big that the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation [with about $140bn of assets] will pale in comparison."

The bulk of the NSSF's assets has been raised through a government policy that forces state-owned enterprises listing overseas to set aside 10 per cent of the proceeds - in shares - to go into the fund's coffers.

This has left the fund with a highly concentrated portfolio. Some 40 per cent of its total assets are invested in just three listed Chinese state banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China and Bank of Communications, according to Z-Ben Advisors.

Analysts believe managers will receive an initial total allocation of about $1.5bn, which is already held in offshore accounts in Hong Kong.

The fund is thought to have raised the money by selling some of its holdings in the banks, including a $600m sale of ICBC shares on the first day of its recent flotation in Hong Kong.

According to the NSSF's official record, it holds about $27bn of assets, with the bank stakes booked at cost. Given the sharp rise of these shares in recent months, the fund's total assets are estimated to have jumped to $40bn.

With its rapidly ageing population and falling fertility rate, China is facing a pensions crisis. It has a narrow "demographic window of opportunity" of about 10 years to fix its fledgling pension system, according to Stuart Leckie, a Hong Kong-based pensions expert and adviser to the Chinese government