New York SE and Hong Kong quoted wealth manager Noah Holdings has reported a 19.2% fall in net revenues for the first quarter of 2024 to RMB649.5m ($90m), compared to the corresponding period in 2023, "mainly due to decreases in performance-based income generated from USD private equity products and recurring service fees generated from RMB private equity and private secondary products".

In a statement on 29 May covering its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2024, the global adviser with primarily Mandarin-speaking high-net-worth investors recorded a 6.0% increase in one-time commissions from the corresponding period in 2023 due to a 4.6% increase in revenues generated from the distribution of insurance products. Net revenues decreased by 18.8% from the fourth quarter of 2023, mainly due to decreases in one-time commissions.

Net revenues from mainland China for the first quarter of 2024 was RMB342.8m ($47.5m), a 28.8% decrease from the corresponding period in 2023, mainly due to decreases in recurring service fees generated from private equity and private secondary products.

Net revenues from overseas for the first quarter of 2024 was RMB306.7m ($42.5m), a 4.5% decrease from the corresponding period of 2023, mainly due to decreases in performance-based income generated from private equity products.

Noah primarily distributes private equity, private secondary, mutual funds and other products denominated in RMB, USD and other currencies.

Total number of registered clients as of March 31, 2024 was 457,705, a 3.9% increase from March 31, 2023, and a 0.4% increase from December 31, 2023. Among which, the number of overseas registered clients as of March 31, 2024 was 15,725, a 17.1% increase from March 31, 2023 and a 5.3% increase from December 31, 2023.

Total number of active clients who transacted with Noah during the first quarter of 2024 was 10,391, a 7.5% decrease from the first quarter of 2023, and a 15.0% increase from the fourth quarter of 2023.

Among which, the number of overseas active clients who transacted with us during the first quarter of 2024 was 2,745, a 39.6% increase from the first quarter of 2023, and a 9.1% increase from the fourth quarter of 2023.

Aggregate value of investment products distributed during the first quarter of 2024 was RMB18.9bn ($2.6bn), a 12.4% increase from the first quarter of 2023, primarily due to a 26.4% increase in mutual fund products distribution. Among which, Noah distributed RMB8.4bn ($1.2bn) of overseas investment products, a 58.5% increase from the first quarter of 2023, primarily due to a 60.6% increase in the value of mutual fund products.

Jingbo Wang (pictured), co-founder and chairwoman of Noah, said: "We made significant progress during this quarter in repositioning ourselves to drive growth in this challenging market environment. While sluggish domestic markets had a stronger-than expected impact on our business during this quarter, we strategically used this window of opportunity to increase the pace of our overseas expansion as client demand for global asset allocation continues to grow.

"Excluding performance-based income, which was elevated due to the high base effect from the same period last year, net revenues from our overseas business increased 22.4% year-over-year.

"Transaction value from USD denominated products also increased significantly, as did the number of overseas registered and active clients, which increased 17.1% and 39.6% year-over-year, respectively. With these tailwinds, we are rapidly expanding our global offerings and expect to roll out new products originated from Japan and Dubai later this year. While we are still in the relatively early stages of our overseas expansion, these results have reinforced our confidence in our strategy going forward."