Income Partners, the Hong Kong-based asset manager, has obtained a RMB800 million ($131 million) quota under the Renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor scheme, making it the first non-bank entity to receive such a grant from Chinese regulatory authorities, the firm said in a statement.

[tag|Income Partners|]Income Partners[/tag], the Hong Kong-based asset manager, has obtained a RMB800 million ($131 million) quota under the Renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor scheme, making it the first non-bank entity to receive such a grant from Chinese regulatory authorities, the firm said in a statement.

A few days prior to this announcement, foreign banks Citi and HSBC announced they had been given their quotas under the RQFII scheme. The China Securities Regulatory Commission increased the investment quota of foreign investors in July 2013 to widen opportunities for outsiders to buy Chinese assets. 

"The potential of the Chinese bond market is huge -- it is already the third largest bond market with RMB25.3 trillion ($4.1 trillion) outstanding and has grown nearly 15 times at an annual pace of 24 per cent since 2000. We believe the RMB will be the third reserve currency of the world," said [tag|Emil Nguy|]Emil Nguy[/tag], chief investment officer and co-founder of the firm.

Income Partners, founded in 1993, is one of the first asset managers to launch offshore RMB bond funds in 2010. It currently manages some $1.4 billion on behalf of its international clients.