Business

Saturday September 26, 2009

Survey: Fund managers bullish on Asia-Pacific equities


PETALING JAYA: Nine of 10 fund managers polled in the latest HSBC’s quarterly Fund Managers Survey hold a “positive” view on Asia-Pacific ex-Japan equities in the third quarter of 2009, up from 45% in the second quarter.

Overall, the fund managers were more optimistic about equities as an investment class, with 50% of them “overweight” in the third quarter from 30% in the preceding quarter. About 75% remained “bullish” about Greater China equities this quarter (vs 75% in the second quarter), while 73% held a “positive” view towards emerging markets equities, up from 27% in the second quarter.

Fund managers’ views on bonds shifted to “neutral’ (70%) in the third quarter, compared with 20% in the previous quarter. Only 30%, down from 70% last quarter, were “bullish” on bonds.

The views were the “least positive” on cash, with a significant shift of fund managers (57% versus 25% in the second quarter) to an “underweight” view. No fund manager held an “overweight” view (vs 25% in the second quarter).

HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd general manager for personal financial services Lim Eng Seong in a statement said: “We see that improving market performance, combined with some signs of economic recovery, especially in Asia-Pacific and emerging markets, are buoying investor sentiment for equities as people actively seek growth opportunities.

“Investors remain positive about Greater China equities, given the stellar performance of the stock market and positive signs of economic development in the region over the past few months.”

The quarterly HSBC survey analysed 13 of the world’s leading fund management houses by their funds under management (FUM), their asset allocation views and their global money flows.

At the end of the second quarter, the fund houses covered in the survey reported aggregated FUM of US$3.1 trillion, representing about 15.2% of the estimated total global FUM.

According to the Investment Company Institute, total global FUM at the end of the first quarter stood at US$18.15 trillion. The survey showed that at the end of the second quarter, FUM increased by US$315bil, up 11.4% from the preceding quarter.

Equity funds, which decreased by US$85bil in the previous quarter, posted an increase of US$206bil in the second quarter, contributing the most to the overall FUM growth. All other funds, except for money market funds, saw an increase in the second quarter.

“In the second quarter, investors appeared to gain more confidence as evidenced by increased inflows and a return to equity funds with a bias towards Asia-Pacific ex-Japan, emerging markets and Greater China.

“However, in the context of uncertain long-term growth prospects in the global economy and volatile equity markets, investors continued to preserve capital by keeping a portion of their assets in bonds and investing in a diversified portfolio,” Lim noted.

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