(Yicai Global) Sept. 10 -- Hong Kong is Asia's best asset management hub while Shanghai is No. 8 in a new global ranking done by a business school research institute in Shanghai.

The special administrative region is No. 4 in the Global Asset Management Center Evaluation Index with a score of 84.7. Shanghai has 83.7 points, according to the index released by the CEIBS Lujiazui Institute of International Finance yesterday. 

The winner is New York which has 96.7 points. London is No. 2 with 89.2 points and Boston follows after that with 87.1 points. Singapore came in fifth with 84.6 points.

The index evaluates 30 international financial centers through eight indicators, including capital supply, talent pool, asset management institutions, open-end funds, and governance. It is the first such rating compiled by the institute.

One of the most important gauges is the scale of assets under management. The combined sum of the top 10 asset management institutions based in Shanghai exceeds USD2 trillion, while that of New York is USD23 trillion.

Shanghai is striving to become an increasingly important international financial hub. The city's assets under management accounted for about a quarter of that of China last year.

But more can be done. There's a significant gap between Shanghai and Hong Kong in terms of business foundation and talent pool, while asset management institutions in London and New York are much bigger, said Sheng Songcheng, deputy head of the CEIBS Lujiazui Institute of International Finance.  

Shanghai still needs to consider lowering taxes and investment barriers, and improve mobility, Sheng added.

The CEIBS Lujiazui Institute of International Finance was co-founded by China Europe International Business School and Shanghai Lujiazui Group in October 2007. It is a platform for exchanges between academic institutions in China and the European Union. 

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi