Authored by: Vivian Gan

Asia Insights: Playing Defense

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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.

2022 New Zealand Outlook: Balancing the Pivot

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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.

Contagion Risk From China Evergrande Likely Low

Fears that a default by China Evergrande Group could trigger a financial crisis has led to some weakness in global equities in recent days, with the MSCI All Country World Index falling 3.5% from its peak. While Evergrande is likely to default and require a major restructuring, we view fears of a broader financial crisis as overblown.