Fund services group InterTrust says the number of China-linked private equity and venture capital fund launches it has handled over the past six months has fallen sharply with the worsening of the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

The warning from the Netherlands-based company, which was controlled by Blackstone until its sale earlier this year, comes as Asian investors increasingly fear the next frontier in the trade war will be the financial sector.

InterTrust Funds started to see the impact of the trade war on China-focused funds and China-based funds investing abroad in December. The number of private equity and venture capital fund launches handled by the group has halved every month since then, from an average of about 10 per month last year to about two or three now, said James Donnan, managing director of InterTrust’s Hong Kong office.