T. Rowe Price has announced its inaugural distribution agreement with Bank of East Asia (00023), marking a significant step in broadening its distribution network across Hong Kong. Through this collaboration, retail and private banking clients of Bank of East Asia can now access the T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) Series - China New Vision Equity Fund directly via the bank's platform, effective immediately.
The fund, managed by Hong Kong-based portfolio manager Cheng Man Lap, leverages T. Rowe Price's global research platform alongside regional investment expertise. Its objective is to uncover a wider spectrum of Chinese equity opportunities beyond the heavily weighted large-cap index constituents. The fund employs an active stock selection approach, targeting promising industry leaders and businesses poised for long-term compounding growth, with the goal of capturing opportunities arising from China's next phase of economic expansion and innovation.
Investment coverage spans Chinese enterprises listed on mainland China, Hong Kong, and other overseas markets, providing a broad canvas for stock picking. Currently, Cheng favors three primary areas: companies benefiting from the evolving artificial intelligence investment cycle; consumer businesses operating on platform models that capitalize on shifting consumption patterns; and select traditional industries entering a harvest phase of profitability amid constrained capacity and steady demand growth.
The fund focuses on companies with relatively limited research coverage, and recent performance reflects the strengths of this stock selection strategy. As of July 31, 2026, the fund delivered a year-to-date return of 19.66%, a one-year return of 41.74%, and a three-year annualized return of 14.81%, outperforming its benchmark across all three periods.
Raymond Chan, Head of Intermediary Distribution for Greater China at T. Rowe Price, expressed enthusiasm about the new distribution partnership with Bank of East Asia, noting that it enables more Hong Kong investors to benefit from the firm's expertise in the Chinese equities market. Chan added that this collaboration underscores T. Rowe Price's ongoing commitment to expanding its Hong Kong operations and delivering differentiated active investment solutions to regional clients.
Chan further observed that China's stock market is becoming increasingly differentiated, with investment opportunities broadening across a wider array of companies and sectors. As the AI investment cycle progresses into new phases and structural changes reshape various segments of China's economy, in-depth bottom-up fundamental analysis will become even more critical. This approach is essential for identifying companies with sustained fundamental improvements and long-term growth potential.