(Yicai Global) Aug. 10 -- US investment management giant Bridgewater has started to trademark financial products under its ‘All Weather’ range, which refers to investments that are not vulnerable to changes in the economic climate, to prevent the brand from being hijacked by local competitors.

The world's largest hedge fund has registered the copyright of several ‘All Weather’ labels in both English and Chinese in recent months, Yicai Global learned from sources close to the Connecticut-based company.

But the term has been around for some time, and is a popular name for financial products in China. For example, the Bank of China has an All-Weather Hong Kong Equity Fund, Century Securities offers an All Weather No. 1 Fund of Funds and Southern Asset Management runs a partial-debt fund called Southern All-Weather Strategy Hybrid FOF.

“Many firms name their products ‘All Weather’ and in doing so they are paying tribute to Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio,” said Jiang Kai, chairman of Ifund Asset. Jiang launched his own All Weather brand after reading Dalio’s book ‘Principles’ as well as listening to his speeches and analyzing his strategies.

“Very few institutions apply to trademark the names of their strategies, and these intellectual properties are very difficult to define,” a law firm partner who focuses on serving foreign asset management institutions told Yicai Global. “The key IP lies in the connotation of the strategy itself, not in the name.”

“We will continue to uphold our rights and protect our IP,” said Joanna Alpert, China fund manager and partner at Bridgewater, adding that it is a challenge.

When Bridgewater China launched its first private placement in China in 2019, it found that there were already more than 100 local investment products named ‘All Weather,’ said Wang Yan, head of Bridgewater China, which was granted a licence to operate as a foreign private equity firm in 2018 and has over CNY10 billion (USD1.5 billion) of assets under management.

Editor: Kim Taylor