(Yicai Global) Aug. 28 -- China Asset Management has launched a fund of funds to offer target pension products, making it the first manager to take advantage of reforms in the country's private pension market.

CAM will release the CAM Pension Hybrid FOF, with a target date of 2040, between Aug. 28 and Sept. 18, according to a statement from the Beijing-based firm.

"There is no expectation of large-scale volumes initially as management favors future automatic investments," a company insider told Yicai Global, adding that CAM will sell the fund on its own platform rather than wait for bank channels to upgrade in the hope of launching automatic investment plans as soon as possible.

China has stepped up reform efforts in the country's voluntary private pension product market in recent years with the approval of FOFs in 2016. The China Securities Regulatory Commission allows them to be structured as target-date funds and target-risk funds.

"Our company has not yet set the issuance time for the pension fund," the insider added. The initial scale will be affected by how much the company sells through its direct sales platform, an investment researcher in public fund pension stated, adding that "the first priority is performance and the firm will value the number of accounts secured."

Editor: William Clegg