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Firm says liquidation comes amid uncertain geopolitical

environment

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Spokesperson says Hong Kong office will remain operational

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US has heightened scrutiny of American capital flowing

into

China

By Kane Wu and Summer Zhen

HONG KONG, June 7 (Reuters) - U.S.-based investment firm

Artisan Partners is liquidating a China-focused investment

portfolio by the end of June, a company spokesperson said on

Saturday.

"This decision comes amid an increasingly uncertain

geopolitical environment and a persistently challenging economic

and market backdrop, which have put significant pressure on

flows across dedicated China strategies," the Artisan

spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said its Hong Kong office will remain

operational, housing investment and trading professionals.

Two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on

Friday that the firm was disbanding the Hong Kong-based team

responsible for its Greater China strategy. One said the

decision was partly due to concerns about escalating Sino-U.S.

trade and geopolitical tensions that have made investments in

the world's second-largest economy riskier.

The sources declined to be named as the information was not

public. Reuters could not immediately ascertain how many people

would be affected by the decision.

The firm's China post-venture strategy, a fund that focuses

on Chinese small- and mid-cap public and private companies, had

$113 million of assets under management at the end of April,

according to the firm's monthly update.

In the same update, Artisan said the China-focused portfolio

was in the process of winding down, without giving details.

The firm's retreat from China-focused investments comes amid

the U.S. government's tightened scrutiny of American investments

in China and an ongoing trade war that has clouded the business

outlook of many export-heavy companies from China.

The U.S. government restricts U.S. investments in certain

sensitive technology sectors in China, such as semiconductors,

artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

U.S. investors are also restricted from investing in

companies that are on the U.S. sanctioned entity list that

comprise a growing number of those from China.

U.S. onshore investors were not able to buy shares of

Chinese battery giant CATL in its $4.6 billion Hong

Kong listing last month due to the structure of the deal, CATL's

filings showed.

CATL was placed on a U.S. Defense Department list in January

of Chinese companies it says work with China's military.

By March 2025, Artisan's China post-venture strategy posted

a net loss of 10.4% since its inception in March 2021.

"The largest risks for investing in China will continue to

be geopolitics and domestic policy overshoots," Tiffany Hsiao,

the strategy's portfolio manager, said in a client letter on the

firm's website in April.

Outside the U.S., Artisan also has offices in London,

Dublin, Singapore and Sydney, according to its website.

The move follows the exit or downsizing of several North

American asset managers and international law firms from Hong

Kong over the past few years.

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Canada's third-largest

pension fund, announced the closure of its Hong Kong office in

March.