China to launch first wine investment fund

China’s burgeoning taste for the good life is about to find a new outlet with the launch of the nation’s first wine investment fund.

The Dinghong Fund plans to raise Rmb1bn ($156mn) and will invest in vintages from Bordeaux and Burgundy.
 
The wine market in China has boomed in recent years, with the country’s wealthy driving the price for fine French wines, in particular, to record highs.
Wine-based investment products are beginning to take off, benefiting from modern China’s obsession with status symbols, and also offering investors a much-sought protection from persistent inflation.
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Investment products to date have primarily been structured as vehicles that channel financing to domestic wineries. 
 
But Dinghong will be the first to offer something in China modelled on the wine investment funds – such as the Vintage Wine Fund – that have gained popularity globally over the past decade. For a minimum investment of Rmb1m, people will be locked into the fund for five years, during which time its managers will select both en primeur and mature wines.