SHANGHAI, March 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Noah Holdings Limited ("Noah" or the "Company") (NYSE: NOAH), a leading wealth management service provider with a focus on global wealth investment and asset allocation services for high net worth individuals and enterprises in China, today announced that Sequoia Capital China ("Sequoia Capital"), a leading venture capital firm in China, has made a strategic investment in EJ Wealth Management, Inc. ("Yijie"), Noah's majority-owned subsidiary dedicated to internet finance.
Yijie operates "Yuan Gong Bao," an internet finance platform that provides financial products and services to white-collar professionals in China. As of the end of 2014, Yuan Gong Bao had established cooperative relationships with 205 leading domestic and multinational enterprises in China and achieved cumulative online sales of RMB1.4 billion, representing a 32% compound monthly growth rate since its launch in June 2014.
"Sequoia Capital's investment is a testament to the huge potential of our internet finance business, which we expect to be a key area of growth for Noah in 2015," said Ms. Jingbo Wang, founder, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Noah. "We plan to use these funds to further expand our product portfolio, strengthen our IT infrastructure and promote the Yuan Gong Bao brand. We anticipate that Yijie will become an increasingly important part of Noah's mission to create a high-quality, reliable wealth management platform for white-collar professionals in China."
"We have been impressed by Yuan Gong Bao's rapid growth and its future prospects," said Mr. Neil Shen, Founding and Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital China. "The Yuan Gong Bao platform allows Noah to promote its products and services to a broader group of potential clients, and we look forward to seeing the platform grow to meet the diverse online investment needs of white-collar professionals in China."
Noah plans to expand the Yuan Gong Bao internet finance platform to support a range of additional financial products and services including money market funds, insurance, credit loans, and asset allocation advisory.
ABOUT NOAH HOLDINGS LIMITED
Founded in 2005, Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE: NOAH) is a leading wealth management service provider with a focus on global wealth investment and asset allocation services for high net worth individuals and enterprises in China. Noah distributed US$10.3 billion of wealth management products in 2014 and had a total of US$8.1 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2014.
Noah distributes a wide array of wealth management products including fixed income products, private equity funds, mutual funds and insurance products. Noah also manages private equity funds, real estate funds, hedge funds, and other assets through Gopher Asset Management. In addition, in the second quarter of 2014, the Company launched a proprietary internet finance platform to provide financial products and services to white-collar professionals in China. Noah delivers customized financial solutions to clients through a network of 779 relationship managers across 94 branches and sub-branches in 63 cities in China, and serves the international investment needs of its clients through a wholly-owned subsidiary in Hong Kong. The Company's wealth management business had 70,557 registered clients as of December 31, 2014 and 9,010 active clients in 2014.
Noah has won numerous awards including Hurun Report's Popular Independent Wealth Management Institution award in 2013 and 2014, Forbes' Best Potential Business in China award in 2015, Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific award in 2013, and STCN's Best Third Party Wealth Management Company award in 2014.
For more information please visit Noah at http://www.noahwm.com .
ABOUT SEQUOIA CAPITAL CHINA
Sequoia Capital was founded in 1972 in Menlo Park, California. In keeping with its motto "The Entrepreneurs Behind The Entrepreneurs", and in keeping with its legendary namesake, Sequoia Capital has always been devoted to building great companies that stand the test of time. Sequoia Capital has been an original investor and key partner in an unprecedented number of enormously successful companies, including Apple, Cisco Systems, Oracle, Yahoo!, Google, Electronic Arts, LinkedIn, Dropbox and WhatsApp. It's estimated that over 20% of the NASDAQ's value is made up of firms that Sequoia Capital has invested in.
Formed in September 2005, Sequoia Capital China has offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Suzhou. In the past nine years, Sequoia Capital China has an impressive and diverse portfolio comprising more than 150 dynamic companies that deliver high returns on investment using differentiated technologies and innovative business models, including Alibaba, Momo, Jumei.com, Beta Pharma, JD.com, VIPshop.com, Noah Private Wealth Management, BGI, Meituan.com, Qihoo 360, Ourpalm, Dianping.com and Plateno Hotels Group.
For more information, please kindly visit: http://www.sequoiacap.cn/en/
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Among other things, the outlook for the full year 2014 and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as Noah's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Noah may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Noah's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: its goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the wealth management market in China and internationally; its expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of the products it distributes; its expectations regarding keeping and strengthening its relationships with key clients; relevant government policies and regulations relating to its industry; its ability to attract and retain quality employees; its ability to stay abreast of market trends and technological advances; its plans to invest in research and development to enhance its product choices and service offerings; competition in its industry in China and internationally; general economic and business conditions in China; and its ability to effectively protect its intellectual property rights and not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Noah's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. Noah does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and Noah undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
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