Manulife already has a chunk of China’s wealth and asset management industry.

Manulife Investment Management has bought a minority stake in Albamen Capital Partners, with the option to take majority ownership in the future.

The amount of money involved and the percentage of the holding were not disclosed.

Albamen is a private equity infrastructure investment manager with a focus on renewable energy, data centres and other power-intensive infrastructure assets in China.  

“Albamen adds a key, in-demand Chinese onshore infrastructure investment capability to our robust private markets team globally,” Myron Zhu, head of private markets, Asia, Manulife Investment Management, said. 

The private equity business will have more than 20 full-time employees across Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and its headquarters in Hong Kong.  

Manulife already has a chunk of China’s wealth and asset management industry. Manulife Investment (Shanghai) Limited Company is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise focused on bringing global assets solutions and co-investment opportunities to the fast-growing institutional asset management market in China. Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co Ltd said it was the first foreign invested joint venture life insurer to sell mutual funds in China.