Beijing, 3 Mar (ZXS) -- Where are the investment opportunities when world economic growth is slowing and financial risks are growing lurking? At the Global Wealth Management Forum 19 Annual Conference held in Beijing on the 18th and 19th, senior executives of asset managers from all over the world turned their attention to China.
Upward economic fundamentals are an important reason why global investors pay attention to the Chinese market. The latest economic data released from January to February shows that the Chinese market is expected to accelerate and the economic operation stabilizes and recovers.
"In 2023, China is another potential bright spot in the global market." Rob Sharps, CEO and president of Platz Group, which manages more than trillion dollars in assets, notes that China's lower inflation rate gives it more room for monetary and fiscal expansion while most other major economies are still grappling with inflation and tightening monetary policy. "Globally, China is in a unique economic cycle."
Sharps believes that after the optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention and control measures, China's economic activities will gradually recover, and domestic consumption is expected to increase significantly, which in turn will stimulate private sector investment. From a valuation perspective, Chinese equities are currently trading below their long-term average. This, combined with improved fundamentals, means that there are attractive opportunities for China's stock market.
"China has come out of the pandemic in a constructive way." Jean Lemierre, chairman of BNP Paribas, said that despite the impact of the epidemic, Chinese companies are resuming work and everything is returning to normal. In particular, he mentioned that Chinese residents have a large amount of savings in their bank accounts, which implies strong consumption potential. Against this backdrop, the market's assessment of China has rebounded.
In response to global financial market volatility, Nicolas Moreau, global chief executive of HSBC Asset Management, has given one of the investment strategies to "allocate assets to Asia". He said that the inflation crisis in the West has led major central banks to raise interest rates continuously, which is in sharp contrast to Asia, which is at different stages of the economic cycle and has more optimistic growth prospects.
Moreau believes that the attractiveness of the Asian investment market lies not only in its potential for excess returns, but also in its diversification due to its different environments. The upcoming recovery of China's economy will create conditions for Asia's economic growth.
While the fundamentals are improving, the pace of China's economic transformation is also seen by global investors as a "nuggets" opportunity. As an important position for preventing and resolving systemic financial risks in the process of transformation, the non-performing asset market has attracted much attention.
Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital, which has been investing in the Chinese stock market for about 20 years, is bullish on China's distressed asset market, co-founder and co-chairman. He said that Oaktree Capital has been investing in this sector in China since 2015, initially cooperating with some asset management companies, and now has established subsidiaries in China. "We have excellent performance and the whole process has paid off handsomely, and we will continue to make such investments."
"We believe in China and will continue to believe in China in the future." Marks said his institution remains committed to investing in China, stressing that China's stock and bond markets are "very attractive."
What piqued the interest of Ben Way, global head of Macquarie Asset Management, is China's green transition opportunity. He noted that last year global investment in the energy transition surpassed the trillion-dollar mark for the first time, with China playing a leading role. "When some countries talk about promises, China has already taken action."
In particular, Ben Wei was impressed by the fact that China plays a leading role in global cleantech supply chains that drive transformation not only in China but around the world. He believes that financial institutions can seize these opportunities to play a practical and direct role in financing the green transition. (End)