# Rayliant Investment Research

Rayliant Investment Research is an Asset Manager based in Newport Beach, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** Newport Beach, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Santa Monica, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 2016
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** rayliant.com

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 306119
- **SEC file number:** 801-118201
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** No
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/306119

## About

RAYLIANT INVESTMENT RESEARCH is an SEC-registered investment adviser in Newport Beach, CA, registered since 2020. The firm manages approximately $203 million in regulatory assets. It has 21 employees and 8 investment advisers.

## Sectors

- Emerging Markets
- Quantitative Strategies

## Offices

- Shanghai, China
- Hong Kong

## People

- Jason Hsu — Founder, Chairman & CIO
- Phillip Wool — Managing Director, Head of Distribution

## Questions

### Who runs the investment process at Rayliant, and what is their background?

Founder and CIO Jason Hsu oversees all investment strategies. Before Rayliant, Hsu co-founded Research Affiliates and served as its CIO, where he helped develop the firm's fundamental-index and smart-beta methodologies that now underpin over $150 billion in assets. His academic work on behavioral finance and factor investing informs the firm's quantitative approach.

### What is Rayliant's flagship ETF, and how is it structured?

The Rayliant Quantamental China Equity ETF (ticker: RAYC) is the firm's primary US-listed product. Rayliant serves as sub-advisor, selecting the portfolio, while Exchange Traded Concepts acts as the fund's sponsor and advisor of record. The ETF applies systematic factor screens to a universe of China equities, targeting value, quality, and momentum exposures calibrated for local-market conditions.

### Does Rayliant manage institutional separate accounts beyond its ETF suite?

Yes. Rayliant manages dedicated institutional mandates for both US and non-US clients, including UCITS-compliant vehicles distributed in Europe. The firm runs China-focused and broader emerging-markets strategies through separately managed accounts, providing customization around tracking-error budgets and factor tilts that the off-the-shelf ETF does not offer.

### What distinguishes Rayliant's investment philosophy from other quantitative EM managers?

Rayliant explicitly accounts for China-specific market distortions in its factor models — high retail-trading volume, state-ownership effects, policy-cycle sensitivity, and segmented share classes — rather than applying globally standard factor definitions. The firm's Shanghai-based research team sources local-language datasets on broker-margin flows and domestic fund allocations that inform dynamic factor-weighting decisions.

### How does Rayliant's ownership structure affect its investment independence?

Rayliant remains privately held by its founder Jason Hsu and senior partners, with no external private-equity backing or parent asset-manager ownership. This structure avoids the distribution-driven product-launch pressure common at bank-owned EM managers, letting the firm concentrate on research-led strategy design and a deliberately narrow product set.

### Where does Rayliant maintain offices, and what function does each serve?

The Santa Monica headquarters houses portfolio management, research leadership, and US institutional distribution. The Shanghai office operates the PFM entity, handles onshore trading and local data sourcing, and maintains broker relationships. The Hong Kong office supports offshore fund vehicles and Asia-Pacific client coverage.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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