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Singapore & Greater China, 21 December 2000 - The United Overseas Bank Group, Singapore (UOB Group), the Allianz Group, Germany (Allianz AG) and GIC Special Investments (GIC SI), the private equity investment arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, have entered into a Heads of Agreement to participate in the asset management market in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The parties are working towards reaching final agreement on forming a consortium.

In September 2000, the UOB Group and Allianz AG signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement that paved the way for both institutions to explore asset management opportunities in the PRC. With GIC SI's participation in the joint venture, the holdings of each partner in the consortium are as follows: UOB Group - 40%, Allianz AG - 40%, and GIC SI - 20%.

The three joint venture partners are committed to establishing and operating a third party asset management business in the PRC. As required by Chinese regulation, the consortium venture is now seeking an established local Chinese partner to form an asset management company based in the PRC to apply for the licence from the Chinese authority to conduct asset management business.

"We are currently looking at a number of potential PRC partners and are planning to combine our know-how with local expertise and distribution," said Dr Joachim Faber, member of the board of management of Allianz AG, responsible for asset management.

UOB Group's Deputy Chairman & President, Mr Wee Ee Cheong commented, "We believe that we have formed an excellent partnership that positions ourselves to meet the challenge of the new business in China. The strong track record of our fund management arm, UOB Asset Management, in managing funds in Asian markets would complement the global outlook and extensive investment experience of our two other partners in this joint venture. With the support of all three institutions, we are confident of success in growing our asset management business in the PRC."

Dr Teh Kok Peng, President of GIC SI remarked, "The fund management industry in China is still at a nascent stage but offers huge growth potential. We look forward to participating in the growth of this industry with our joint venture partners."

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