OREANDA-NEWS. December 08, 2015. The Directors of the Company  are pleased to note the launch of a new joint venture fund in Hong Kong by Adamas Asset Management (HK) Limited ("Adamas") and Ping An Trust Co. Ltd ("Ping An Trust") (the "Fund").  Adamas has acted as investment manager for the Company since February 2014.

The Fund has a US\\$500 million target and will focus on investments with strong downside protection.  The Fund bridges a major funding gap that exists for quality small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Greater China that are seeking to grow to the next level.  In China, 90% of SMEs do not have access to traditional bank financing and public equity markets, hindering the rapid growth of high quality companies.

Adamas is partnering with Ping An Trust, a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd ("Ping An Group").  Ping An Group is one of the largest financial institutions in China with total assets of RMB 130 billion and assets under management of RMB399.8 billion at 31 December 2014 and net profit of RMB 3.9 billion in 2014, ranking it among China's top trust companies.  The combination of Adamas' expertise in the Chinese structured finance market and Ping An's extensive network is designed to make the Fund a high quality capital provider to SMEs in China.

The Fund will benefit from strong collateral enforcement and risk-adjusted returns due to the Fund's onshore investment structuring and on-the-ground expertise in enforcement and risk management.  Ping An's internal credit rating system and its staff resources in local markets will also enhance a well-established investment process developed by Adamas .

Adamas has extensive experience and a solid network and infrastructure in China and seeks to provide a high level of transparency for investors allocating money to China.  Adamas has successfully invested and divested around 22 projects in the Asia Pacific region.