Ant Financial’s money market fund Yu’e Bao (余额宝) is putting a cap on daily subscription volume starting today (February 1st) said Tianhong Asset Management, the firm that manages the fund.
The fund manager released an announcement yesterday that reads: “From February 1st to March 15th, 2018, Tianhong Asset Management will adjust the rules, putting a cap on daily subscription volume…”
During the said time period, effective today, Yu’e Bao starts accepting subscription at 9 am every morning and stops issuing subscription when the daily cap is reached. According to the announcement, daily volume cap will be adjusted according to the number of subscriptions, redemptions, and other conditions. The automatic inward transfer service will also be temporarily suspended during this time. However, other features on the platform are not affected by the adjustment.
According to Tianhong, the main purpose is to ensure the fund’s smooth operation and “prevent the fund from growing too rapidly.” Tianhong’s official figures show that Yu‘e Bao’s assets have reached an estimated of RMB 1.4 trillion, accounting for roughly 28% of China’s money market funds.
Set up in June 2013, Yu‘e Bao is now one of the world’s biggest money market funds and is integrated into Ant Financial’s payment app Alipay.
There have been multiple caps placed on subscription volume and investment amount in 2017 alone. The most recent cap was imposed last December, which Ant Financial capped the amount of daily investment at RMB 20,000. However, it has been rumored that most users are not affected by restriction since investors on Yu’e Bao invest an average of less than RMB 4000 in the fund.