HONG KONG - More than 160,000 individual investors have participated in the Wealth Management Connect (WMC) 2.0 as of June, up over 120 percent compared to WMC 1.0, said Eddie Yue Wai-man, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), on Monday, noting that the market response to WMC 2.0 has been encouraging.

Under the Southbound Scheme, the market value of investments held at Hong Kong participating institutions exceeded 16 billion RMB, nearly tripling from WMC 1.0, Yue said in an HKMA press release.

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As Southbound Scheme investors become more familiar with Hong Kong products and put more emphasis on diversification, their focus has shifted from deposits to a broader allocation toward funds and bond products, said Yue.

The Cross-boundary WMC Scheme in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was officially launched in September 2021, followed by WMC 2.0, which officially commenced on Feb 26, 2025.

On cross-boundary personal wealth management, WMC 2.0 was launched last year, featuring a higher individual investor quota, a wider choice of products, relaxed investor eligibility criteria, broadened participating institutions, and refined sales and promotion arrangements.

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The HKMA, in collaboration with mainland regulatory authorities, has introduced some enhancements under the WMC 2.0 framework, including "one-off consent" and "three-party online conference" arrangements, as well as allowing Southbound Scheme account opening through a non-face-to-face approach, said Yue.