Only one fund available to Hong Kong and Singapore retail investors has generated a return of more than 50% since the beginning of the year. The Schroder ISF Global Energy Fund, with a year-to-October return of 57.99%, tops the list of performers, according to Morningstar data.
Another top performing energy fund, the Blackrock World Energy, has posted 46.67% since the beginning of 2021. Both products have a significant exposure to US equities, accounting for 50.5% and 44.3% respectively.
Among other strong performers, Vietnam stands out. Despite the country recording a 6.17% drop in GDP and suffering a mid-year resurgence of Covid-19 cases, domestic investors have poured money into Vietnamese stock market. Vietnam equity funds outperformed their peers, with three of the five products available to Hong Kong or Singapore investors making it into the top 20 performing list.
The Forum One VCG Partners Vietnam Fund was the best performing among the five with a 49.76% return year-to-October, followed by the Lion Global Vietnam Fund (38.57%), and the JPMorgan Vietnam Opportunities Fund (38.02%). Even the performing Amundi Vietnam Opportunities Fund posted a 26.47% return from January to October.
Top 10 performing funds (Jan-Oct 2021)
| Fund | Category | Total return (Jan-Oct) | Total return (Oct) |
| Schroder ISF Global Energy A1 Acc USD | EAA Fund Sector Equity Energy | 57.99% | 4.82% |
| Forum One VCG Partners Vietnam A USD Acc | EAA Fund Vietnam Equity | 49.76% | 6.51% |
| BGF World Energy A2 | EAA Fund Sector Equity Energy | 46.67% | 9.49% |
| CIFM China Emerging Power Fund Class H | China Fund Aggressive Allocation – Large Growth | 42.22% | 7.79% |
| JPMorgan India Smaller Companies USD | EAA Fund India Equity | 40.26% | 1.19% |
| CIFM China Sector Rotation Fund Class H | China Fund Aggressive Allocation – Large Growth | 39.99% | 4.54% |
| Templeton Eastern Europe A(acc)USD | EAA Fund Emerging Europe Equity | 39.76% | 4.93% |
| Manulife Adv US Bank Eq AA USD Inc | EAA Fund Sector Equity Financial Services | 39.20% | 3.43% |
| Lion Global Vietnam USD | EAA Fund Vietnam Equity | 38.57% | 5.19% |
| T Rowe Price Frontier Mkts Eq A USD | EAA Fund Global Frontier Markets Equity | 38.33% | 6.31% |
All three Brazil equity funds made available to Hong Kong and Singapore investors have underperformed this year, as they make up the bottom five performing funds since January to October.
HSBC GIF Brazil Equity fund was the worst performer year to October, with a total return of close to -26% during the period, followed by BNP Paribas Brazil Equity fund, with a total return of -24.24%.
JPM Brazil Equity fund was the best of the three, but still posted a -23.5% return for the first ten months of 2021.
Brazil is embattling a double-digit inflation and its central bank has just announced a 150 basis point hike in its key interest rate. This is the biggest interest rate rise since 2002, and the Selic rate now stands at 7.75%.
Both equity and fixed income markets in China have also fallen behind, mainly due to the liquidity crunch and tightening regulations in the property sector.
Among the bottom 20 performing funds for the first 10 months of the year, there are 12 China bond or equity funds and three Asian high yield bond funds.
Bottom 10 performing funds (Jan-Oct 2021)
| Fund | Category | Total return (Jan-Oct) | Total return (Oct) |
| HSBC GIF Brazil Equity AC | EAA Fund Brazil Equity | -25.98% | -10.07% |
| BNP Paribas Brazil Equity C C | EAA Fund Brazil Equity | -24.24% | -10.85% |
| China AMC Return H | China Fund Moderate Allocation | -24.19% | 2.47% |
| JPM Brazil Equity A (acc) USD | EAA Fund Brazil Equity | -23.53% | -10.76% |
| Hang Seng HSCEI Daily (1.5x) Lvrgd Fd A | EAA Fund Trading - Leveraged/Inverse Equity | -23.33% | 3.87% |
| UBS (HK) Fd Series-CHN Hi-Yld Bd A $ Acc | EAA Fund Greater China High Yield Bond | -22.62% | -12.91% |
| BOCIP China Wealth A | EAA Fund China Equity | -22.40% | -1.43% |
| E Fund (HK) Grtr Chn Leaders I USD Acc | EAA Fund China Equity | -22.19% | 4.30% |
| UBS (HK) Fd Series-CHN Opp Eq (USD) A | EAA Fund China Equity | -22.16% | -0.14% |
| BOCHK All Weather China HY Bd B USD | EAA Fund Greater China High Yield Bond | -21.35% | -15.53% |
