Vanguard has called time on plans to sell funds directly in China. Instead, the $7.2tn asset manager is relying on its joint venture with hard-pressed fintech platform Ant Financial for any exposure to the nation’s market.

That looks doubly ill-advised. China’s mutual fund market, with Rmb20.1tn ($3tn) of assets under management, may not be for the faint-hearted. But Vanguard, as a diligent money manager, should be well aware of the multiple obstacles when it announced plans to enter a year ago. These include paid-for distribution, lack of direct sales and investors’ appetite for actively managed funds, which chafe with Vanguard’s passive preferences. 

Asset management is also fiercely competitive: more than 7,000 funds jostle for attention, according to industry consultancy Z-Ben. Some houses will launch a couple of funds in the space of a week to catch a passing fad. But that testifies to the market’s size and growth, which will only increase further as retirement planning — in its infancy — takes off.