SHANGHAI, Aug. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Christopher Ruffle, Chairman of Heartland Capital Management Ltd., today announced that the company expected to complete the acquisition of Martin Currie Ltd.'s interest in their joint venture MC China by early November, opening the way to develop Heartland into a leading independent manager of China investments.
Heartland, which is owned by Ruffle and Director of Heartland Shifeng Ke, established the Shanghai-based joint venture with Martin Currie Ltd. in 2006. Under the leadership of Ruffle and Ke, the China business grew to have more than US$4 billion of assets under management.
Through the joint venture, Ruffle and Ke were managers of The China Fund Inc., The Taiwan Fund Inc., Martin Currie's A-Share products, Martin Currie's China Hedge Fund and the microcap China Development Capital Partnership. Yesterday, Martin Currie disclosed that Ruffle would leave the Edinburgh-based firm, after Heartland announced its intention to exercise its option to acquire Martin Currie's interest in MC China.
"With the completion of the acquisition, we will have 100% ownership of the highly regarded Shanghai research team whose expertise is reflected in our excellent track record over the years," said Ruffle. "This positions Heartland to establish itself as an independent, full service fund management business that offers opportunities in China not easily accessed by most international investors. We will continue our record of developing valuable insights into domestically listed A shares, emerging leaders in the Chinese health care sector or Taiwan-listed beneficiaries of crossstrait trade, as well as small-cap, entrepreneurial companies."
Ke will oversee the transition at MC China in the period until November, when the joint venture will be terminated and he will take up duties at Heartland. Martin Currie has said it is in a search for new managers of The China Fund, The Taiwan Fund and its other China portfolios. Fluent in Mandarin, Ruffle has been based in the Far East since 1983, initially working for Wogen Resources in Beijing, Shanghai and Australia. He moved to Tokyo in 1987 to become an analyst for Warburg Securities and established its Taiwan office in 1990.
Prior to forming MC China with Ruffle in 2006, Shifeng joined Martin Currie's Asia team in 1997 and, until 2002, co-managed the China Heartland Fund, which at that time was the only offshore fund to access China's A-share market. He practiced law before moving to China's ministry of labor and social security in 1990.
