All types of China funds gain in February - Lipper

SHANGHAI, March 13 (Reuters) - All types of Chinese mutual funds posted gains in net asset value per unit last month as the stock market rallied and money market liquidity stayed loose, a study by fund data firm Thomson Reuters Lipper showed on Friday.

Pure equity funds performed best, posting an average gain of 3.86 percent for February and bringing their total gain so far this year to 10.90 percent.

But they underperformed a 5.30 percent rise in February by the CSI 300 Index .CSI300 of top Chinese stocks, which surged during the first half of the month in response to data suggesting the economy might soon start recovering.

Money market funds were the worst performers, gaining only 0.13 percent in February, as bill and bond yields generally moved sideways or rose amid signs that the central bank was becoming less likely to ease monetary policy further.

Twenty-one funds trading Chinese A shares through the country's Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme posted an average return of 3.33 percent. Chinese A-share funds run by Scottish fund manager Martin Currie were the best performer in the group with a gain of 8.18 percent.

Total net assets at QFII funds shrank 10.2 percent from January to an estimated $6.82 billion in February as many foreign investors became wary of the speed of the stock market's rally, Lipper said.

Net assets at the iShares FTSE/Xinhua A50 China Tracker (2823.HK) shrank 21 percent; its assets are particularly volatile because many foreign investors, not yet having obtained QFII licences themselves, use the Hong Kong-listed fund to bet on the Chinese stock market, Lipper said.

Funds investing Chinese money in foreign markets under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme fell 1.50 percent in February as global stock markets continued to underperform the Chinese market. That brought their losses so far this year to 9.38 percent.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)