In this edition of Asia Insights, we highlight areas in public equities, private investments, real assets, and hedge funds where we continue to find opportunities, despite the current environment of higher rates and market uncertainty.
New Zealand markets had difficulty gaining ground in 2022, although they still demonstrated greater resilience than many of their global counterparts. For 2023, the weakening outlook for domestic growth and the prospect of more restrictive interest rates remain key risks to New Zealand market performance.
Southeast Asia, also known as ASEAN (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations), was a relative safe haven for investors in 2022. In this paper, we analyse the factors that have supported ASEAN equities, including the country/sector composition of the ASEAN market, the earnings outlook for the region, and the currency basket. We also show that the ASEAN market looks different today versus 2013, when the region experienced headwinds due to elevated valuations coupled with a collapse in commodity prices and the Federal Reserve’s tapering cycle.
We expect global earnings growth will be below average next year, as prior interest rate hikes increasingly bite. With this backdrop, we expect value equities will outperform, Chinese equity underperformance will correct, and Healthcare may present an overweight opportunity.
In this edition of VantagePoint, we review three big questions that are central to the path of the markets: 1) Will the US Fed pivot away from aggressive tightening?; 2) Will China move away from its zero-COVID policy?; and 3) Will Europe successfully manage its transition away from Russian energy imports?
Asian markets have had a difficult year, but while the current environment has been challenging for most investments, it has also created an opportunity for more defensive and diversifying strategies to add value. In this edition of Asia Insights, we focus on the case for Asia quality strategies within public equities; increased interest in India and Southeast Asia venture capital markets; private infrastructure and private credit as defensive strategies; and the value in Asia macro and equity long/short.
No. Despite the recent spate of lockdowns in China, we still anticipate some form of easing of the current zero-COVID policy and increased support for the economy following the Party Congress in October.
Given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, concerns that China might decide to invade Taiwan are rising. But China is not Russia, and Taiwan is not Ukraine. For China to unilaterally break the status quo and risk a failed invasion and inflict economic pain on the population would be extremely destabilizing for a party that puts domestic stability above everything else. And given the current state of the Chinese economy and China’s vulnerability to US tech sanctions and the USD banking system, China is unlikely to invade Taiwan any time soon.
We don’t think so, as the markets are pricing in more severe conditions than we believe are warranted.
New Zealand’s COVID-19 containment strategy served the economy well during the early days of the pandemic. However, New Zealand equities and bonds suffered in 2021 as growth slowed to a halt late in the year due to lockdown measures and inflation moved higher due to labour market constraints. Heading into 2022, New Zealand authorities have pivoted the strategy from zero–COVID-19 to minimisation and protection, while still embarking on a monetary policy tightening cycle. Balancing both strategies will be key to supporting New Zealand’s economic growth in 2022.