Fund Performance
Ng said that the BlackRock fund has performed well year-to-date in 2015, but notably in calendar year 2014. Zhu joined the BlackRock team that year and made allocation changes to steer the fund towards the banking, insurance and real estate sectors. During 2014, the fund outperformed the MSCI China 10/40 Net TR index by a large margin.
“Zhu is strong when it comes to equity valuations and she can quickly identify stocks that have been oversold. Zhu’s decision to initiate a stock rotation in 2014 was a good call and is the main reason for the fund’s [comparative] out-performance [that year],” Ng noted.
By comparison, the Allianz fund had a smaller return year-to-date in 2015. Ng noted that strong market volatility this year has impacted peformance. However, it did outperform the benchmark index during the same period (-0.58% vs -2.37%).
“The Allianz fund’s performance was better in 2013 – a year where people went back into traditional sectors and growth stocks,” Ng said.
Cumulative returns
| 6-month | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | |
| BlackRock | -21.20% | 8.72% | 32.06% | 12.64% |
| Allianz | -21.97% | 4.99% | 22.50% | 2.12% |
Source: FE Analytics
Calendar year returns
| YTD | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | |
| BlackRock | 0.54% | 14.61% | 4.21% | 23.01% | -21.07% |
| Allianz | -0.58% | 6.46% | 7.92% | 16.62% | -23.34% |
Source: FE Analytics
Volatility
| Beta | Volatility | |
| BlackRock | 1.07 | 19.93 |
| Allianz | 1.07 | 19.48 |
Source: FE Analytics
Ng said that the BlackRock’s fund volatility, which is slightly higher than Allianz, reflects the portfolio managers’ preference for frequent stock rotations.
He noted that the volatility of the Allianz vehicle is also high when compared against the benchmark index, reflecting Chung’s tendency to change her allocations when cyclical opportunities are present.
