BlackRock brought in about $1 billion from Chinese investors just after billionaire financier George Soros warned that doing so would be a “tragic mistake.”
The investment management giant announced the haul just about a day after Soros wrote an opinion piece tearing into the firm’s decision to deal with China, arguing that doing so will not only lose money for its clients but also inflict damage on the national security of the United States and other democracies.
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“We are very proud of achieving this milestone for our China fund management business, and are grateful for investors’ overwhelming support,” said Rachel Lord, BlackRock’s head of Asia-Pacific, in a statement.
Last month, BlackRock, which is the world’s largest asset manager, began offering investment products and mutual funds to Chinese investors — becoming the first foreign-run financial company to be allowed to do so. The research arm of the firm also recently encouraged investors to triple their exposure to Chinese assets.
Soros had argued in Wall Street Journal opinion piece that BlackRock misunderstands how China’s economy operates and called Congress to take action to prevent Chinese business dealings such as the one that BlackRock, which is led by CEO Larry Fink, is now undertaking.
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“Congress should pass legislation empowering the Securities and Exchange Commission to limit the flow of funds to China. The effort ought to enjoy bipartisan support,” Soros said, noting that the U.S. and China are embroiled in a “life and death conflict” between democracy and repression.
