Hang Seng Bank has launched a new fund recently named the Hang Seng China Equity Fund, which brings the number of Hang Seng open-ended funds relating to China equities or China equity indexes to four.

The fund, which primarily invests in H shares and Red-chip shares, has expanded the range of options for retail investors wishing to invest in China-related securities.

The Hang Seng China Equity Fund was first established in June 2005 for institutional investors. By the end of December 2005, the performance of the fund since its establishment was 10.16 percent, better than the 8.32 percent increase in the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index over the same period.

The investment objective of the Hang Seng China Equity Fund is to achieve long-term

capital appreciation by investing primarily in securities of companies that are engaged in China- related business and listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited or any other overseas exchange.

The other three open-ended funds relating to China equities or China equity indexes that are offered to retail investors are the Hang Seng China Index Fund, the Hang Seng China H-Share Index Fund and the Hang Seng China H-Share Index Leveraged 150 Fund.

The new fund takes the total number of sub-funds under the Hang Seng Investment Series for retail customers to 129, of which 107 are capital-guaranteed funds.

Founded in 1933, Hang Seng Bank is a principal member of the HSBC Group. It operates 156 branches and automated banking centers in Hong Kong.

Source: Xinhua