Advisers are blind to the opportunities available in Asian economies, says Jonathan Wu, associate director of Premium China Funds Management.
Thursday, July 4th 2013, 7:21AM
by Susan Edmunds
He spoke at yesterday’s Perfecting Investment Portfolios conference in Auckland about the continuing growth in the region.
He said a collapse in yield across the world had become apparent and declining bond returns would prompt more confidence in equities.
But he said Asian equities that had extremely strong fundamentals were being overlooked purely because investors did not recognise them, or know enough about Asian markets.
An opportunity that would be jumped at if it was an Australian company was being overlooked by advisers not willing to find out more, he said.
“If you want to put clients in a good retirement position, you need capital growth… Asia provides a much higher growth scenario.”
Wu said Asia had tended to suffer more in global economic crises, but with each one, the volatility was less intense and the effects less noticeable. “It was only up to the GFC that Asian capital markets were more volatile. After the GFC, there was a deepening of capital markets.:
Opportunities were many in China, Wu said. “China is set to become the world’s largest premium car market.”
Asian stocks that were selling much more cheaply than they would if they were based elsewhere in the world included Hyundai, the Bank of China and Changan, Ford’s joint venture partner in China.
“Take a traditional look at a non-traditional market,” Wu said.
