(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s first wealth management product in China raised only a fraction of the average amount of rivals, underscoring its challenges in tapping the $4 trillion market. 

The quantitative equity offering by the US firm’s joint venture with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. was launched after raising 149.4 million yuan ($21 million), according to a registry filing Thursday. That’s less than a tenth of the 1.6 billion yuan average product size among wealth management firms.

“I’d expect that the results would be deemed a disappointment by both parties,” said Peter Alexander, managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Z-Ben Advisors Ltd. 

The Chinese wealth market has proven tricky just as more global firms like BNP Paribas SA join the race to tap its huge potential. Sharp declines in the local stock market could have added to difficulties for Goldman Sachs’s new product, even as its two-week launch period coincided with a 10% rally in the benchmark CSI 300 Index that helped investors recoup losses. 

Unlike products issued by most Chinese rivals, Goldman Sach’s offering targeted high net-worth clients rather than the mass market, which may have made it harder to raise funds, Alexander said. 

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Goldman Sachs, which holds 51% of the venture, declined to comment. The new business aims to develop a “broad range” of products including quantitative investment strategies, cross-border offerings and innovative solutions in alternatives, the US firm said in May last year. 

Goldman Sachs joins BlackRock Inc. in starting with equity offerings, a less popular strategy in a market where investors typically seek relatively safe and liquid alternatives to bank savings. Fixed-income products accounted for 94% of the market as of June 30, while stock equivalents made up just 0.3%, according to official data. 

“The odds of success are greatly diminished if the choice is made to go with a product which is not a short-duration fixed-income product,” Alexander said. 

The first two offerings by BlackRock’s joint venture with China Construction Bank Corp., both equity focused, have fallen more than 10%. The first one raised 2.5 billion yuan when it launched in September last year, but its net assets have fallen to 2.1 billion yuan as of Sept. 30, according to registration data.

--With assistance from Cathy Chan.

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