Ant Fortune: Providing universal wealth management services in China

• Main Authors: LIANG, Hao, Chan, Chi Wei
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2023
• Subjects: digital platforms; Disruptive business model; investment funds; Mutual funds; Exchange traded funds; Asian Studies; Finance and Financial Management; Strategic Management Policy
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/447; https://smu.sharepoint.com/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-22-BATCH%20%5BPDF-Pic%5D/SMU-22-0029%20%5BAnt%20Fortune%5D/SMU-22-0029%20%5BAnt%20Fortune%5D.pdf?CT=1676448436328&OR=ItemsView
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In 2022, Wang Jun was the chairperson of Ant Fortune, a comprehensive wealth management platform under Ant Group. China’s economic growth since 1978 led to a significant increase in the number of people having sufficient money to invest. Ant Fortune aimed to provide inclusive wealth management services to such consumers. Since 2013, Ant Fortune capitalised on China’s high internet penetration rate and the popularity of Alipay, and started helping consumers invest in its money market fund Yu’e Bao. The improvement in technology meant that investment barriers were lowered, and users could be easily reached online. Algorithms could help users allocate funds and rebalance their portfolios automatically. Ant Fortune built an open platform to connect users with mutual fund providers. It endeavoured to be user-centric and provided educational tools to help investors make investment decisions. Wang’s goal was to make Ant Fortune the most trusted wealth-management platform that promoted investment education to benefit society and the most trustworthy partner for wealth management firms. This case may be used for graduate, postgraduate and executive education classes. Through discussion of the case, students will be able to understand how technology can promote financial inclusion in the area of wealth management; evaluate the ways in which Ant Fortune reaches out to a broad base of retail investors, equips them with necessary financial knowledge, and how such enhanced financial literacy facilitates retail investors to further participate in more wealth management services offered by Ant Fortune; identify opportunities for investors to enlarge their investment options through the Ant Fortune platform and comprehend the efficient market hypothesis and its implications for active and passive investment strategies in developed markets and emerging markets.