Following a state investigation into the misuse of Shanghai's welfare pension the head of China's oldest fund firm has been removed from his post and detained for financial misconduct, a company statement and sources said yesterday.

 

Han Fanghe, chief executive of Hua An Fund Management Co, "was cooperating with authorities in an investigation into his violations of disciplinary rules," said a statement by the Shanghai fund venture.

 

"Han's problems are not related to any fund in our company and his work has been taken over by deputy general manager, Shao Jiejun," the statement said. "Our daily operations are normal."

 

The company gave no reason for Han's detention but sources said central government officials took him away for questioning over the weekend in connection with a probe into the city's pension fund.

 

The investigation has implicated several senior government officials and corporate executives in the city. The municipality's former Party Secretary Chen Liangyu was dismissed last month.

 

The 10-billion-yuan (US$1.27 billion) Shanghai pension fund made up of mainly corporate annuities has been managed through irregular loans without proper collaterals and long-term investments such as real estate with liquidity risks.

 

Hua An, set up in 1998, has nearly 40 billion yuan (US$5.06 billion) in assets under management. This accounts for more than 7 percent of China's fund market. It launched the country's first open-end, index-based and money-market funds.

 

In August the company also became the first Chinese fund manager to invest clients' assets in overseas financial and capital markets in partnership with Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers.

 

Before joining Hua An, Han worked at Shanghai International Trust & Investment Co, an investment vehicle of the city government, which owns 20 percent of the fund firm.  

 

Hua An's other big shareholders include an arm of the troubled Fuxi Investment Holding Co and Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Electric Group.

 

(Shanghai Daily October 18, 2006)