Chinese Financial Companies Imitate Global Brands

WSJ: Fake It ‘Til You Make It: Chinese Funds Adopt Billion-Dollar Names

“We have observed that a number of global firms seem to be unwittingly doing business in China,” said Z-Ben’s report. “More correctly, a host of Chinese companies are doing business using copycat names.”

It counts 15 mutual fund companies using derivations of the Chinese name for HSBC Holdings Plc, 13 versions of Fidelity Investments and ten each that play on the names of Principal Financial Services Group Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a firm that’s no stranger to such fakery. Goldman said in a statement that it considers trademark infringement “a serious issue” and stands ready to protect its brand.

Funds with names similar to JP Morgan & Co. and Morgan Stanley appear 15 times among the association’s registrants, the advisory firm says. “Capturing all the glory, I guess,” said Jasmine Baker, a Z-Ben analyst who contributed to the research.

Related: Chinese Copycat Skills