Financial group extends its reach

Ant Financial, which operates electronic payment platform Alipay and online money-market fund Yu'ebao has launched independent wealth management platform Ant Fortune.

In the form of an independent mobile application, it will combine the functions of Yu'ebao and Zhaocaibao, and investment funds. Users will be able to manage their wealth in three ways via one single account.

The threshold for investment has been lowered to 1 yuan ($0.15) for Yu'ebao and 100 yuan for Zhaocaibao.

The company will work with Hangzhou Shumi Fund Sales Co Ltd to cover more than 900 funds provided by major companies.

Against the backdrop that funds in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland will be mutually recognized in future, it is likely that Ant Fortune will introduce Hong Kong fund companies later.

It is the first time that Ant Financial has independently released a new application outside of Alipay.

Ant Fortune will also work with China Business News and Nasdaq to provide selected information about stock markets in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, the United States and elsewhere.

In future, Ant Fortune users will be able to buy stocks via Yu'ebao.