Spy shared several passable bottles of Aussie red with an excitable investment director last night. There was more than a touch of schadenfreude in the man as the evening wore into the wee hours and the US market rout gathered pace. “This rally has been built on Joe Public’s gullibility and central bank largesse”, was the emphatic view of this London-born, Tottenham-loving, cynic. He, along with a great number of others have been surprised, shocked, amazed and even downright angry with the rapid rally, which seems to have passed so many of them by while mom and pop investors have ridden the glorious wave. “Football is a game of two halves,” he said, “and this investment year is going to be a lot like that, too.” It would seem disappointment is ahead for one of the teams: Bulls FC or Bears FC. Take your pick.
News reaches Spy that BEA has made a key hire. The bank has pinched Patrick Yang from ICBC in Hong Kong. Spy understands that Patrick has joined the firm as a senior banker looking after a select group of UHNWIs. Patrick was previously involved with fund and product selection at ICBC, but will now focus exclusively on advising clients instead. Spy has no news on who has replaced Patrick at ICBC.
There is change coming to Pimco in Hong Kong. Michael Thompson, who is head of Asia-ex Japan client management, is moving back to the UK. Michael has been with Allianz’s bond giant for more than 15 years and has spent more than ten of those years in Asia. Adrian Stewart who is head of client management in APAC, remains in charge of the region. Spy understands Pimco will not fill Michael’s role. The asset manager has had success in the last twelve months with its flagship Total Return Bond Fund, an extremely popular wealth management vehicle, which is up more than 12%.
Spy usually shares snippets on Asian wealth and asset management people moving about. It would, however, be remiss of Spy to ignore news from one of our friendly and respected competitors. Paris Shepherd, who was managing director of Asian Private Banker, has recently stepped down from his role after five-and-half years. Paris successfully led the private bank-focused media brand and, in the process, became very well- known and admired across our industry. Spy and the FSA team wish Paris every success in his next venture.
A key change is coming even closer to home for Fund Selector Asia: Drew Wilson, FSA’s founding editor is stepping down from his role at the end of the month. Drew has led the FSA editorial team for six years, seeing it from startup to industry voice and is now relocating back to his native United States after a decade in Hong Kong. Drew will be joining S&P Global. He will be sincerely missed by colleagues, clients and industry sources. Spy is delighted to reveal that Francis Acosta has been appointed editor of FSA and steps up from his role as deputy. Rupert Walker is taking on an Asian regional editorial role within the wider LWM group. Spy is very pleased to confirm that despite challenging times, FSA remains editorially and commercially committed to Asia. FSA, is in fact adding to its commercial team with the appointment of Keith Frith as commercial director, based in Hong Kong.
Spy can only imagine what is going on in those asset management strategy rooms. Is it a V, is it a W, is it an L or Arabic Baa? Those much discussed recovery shapes will be back in play. We have certainly had a stunning V in terms of equity markets, but a few months is perhaps not enough to do it justice. With this week’s vicious sell off and yesterday’s brutal plunge in particular, Spy is beginning to think W may just be a winner in terms of shapes. Spy has been, to be fair, utterly stunned at the strength of the rebound with so many job losses across the world. This week seems to have brought a dose of realism to the market. Spy read a great story on Marketwatch about a day trader claiming to be better than Warren Buffet at investing. Read it here and have a laugh.
Spy has, as previously mentioned, a certain amount of sympathy for HSBC and Standard Chartered, caught in the middle of some extremely challenging politics. This week the drumbeat of criticism from bankers and politicians in The West ramped up on those banks’ perceived kowtowing to China. Sadly, all across the world, countries, corporations and even citizens are being forced to choose: China, the EU or USA. George Orwell has never seemed more prescient.
China has attempted to reassure again today that Hong Kong’s new security law will not affect the freedom of the internet in Hong Kong, reports Caixin. The new law has not been written or promulgated yet, so Spy will withhold judgement. But if this proves not to be true, Spy would imagine the wealth industry would be severely affected. It is very, very hard to do research on global firms from behind the Great Firewall.
During the lockdown, it seems that people were not just hopping on Zoom calls to stay in touch with each other but sharing playlists on Spotify galore. Spy has, in the spirit of sharing, produced his own 2020 financial playlist to reflect the volatility and spirit in the markets. For what it is worth, and in severe danger of dating himself by his taste, here goes:
- January: What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
- February: Got the Fever – Ellis Hall
- Early March: Eve of Destruction – Barry McGuire
- Mid March : The Road to Hell – Chris Rea
- Late March: Riders on the Storm – The Doors
- April: I Can See Clearly Now – The Hothouse Flowers
- May: Up Where We Belong – Joe Cocker / Jennifer Warnes
- Early June: We Are the Champions – Queen
(Spy can envisage global central bankers in a karaoke bar drunkenly singing this together) - Mid June: Here Comes the Rain Again – Eurythmics
- Bonus Track: Hotel California – The Eagles
Experts, hey, who needs them, wonders Spy? Great snippet from one of Spy’s favourite craft brewers: Brew Dog. The founders went on Dragon’s Den to pitch their idea offering the Dragons 20% of their business for £100k. It was turned down. That stake would now be worth £380m as Brew Dog has soared in value.
Until next week…
