China’s young but luring fund industry is in need of quality fund managers to support the growing demands and rapid development, The Standard reported. With markets rebounding from a four-year slump and money pouring in, the paper quoted analysts as saying salaries are jumping to Hong Kong levels while the shortage of fund managers is likely to last for at least the next few years. "The fund industry is a very young industry in China, and we did not have proper training programs to keep up with the demand," said Jeanne Zhen, an investment consultant with Watson Wyatt, "That's why you've seen a lot of joint ventures in the fund management industry because the government realized the shortage of skills." China now has more than 20 joint ventures with global fund management firms, which are keen to lure China's 2 trillion US dollars in personal savings into fee-rich products such as mutual funds. While the foreign players have brought much-needed expertise, industry observers said their deep pockets have also helped fuel turnover and drive up salaries. Analysts said rising salaries will eventually curb the shortages as financial professionals are lured away from industries such as insurance, but the process will take time. The industry's overall outlook is bright, with assets from both mutual funds and pension funds likely to reach almost 1 trillion US dollars within a decade.