The FSA Spy market buzz – 13 December 2024
M&G’s positive outlook; Wisdom from Schroders’s podcast; Alliance Bernstein on the power of curiosity; Janus Henderson on responsible AI; China’s retirement revolution; Apple and much more.
Mixed-asset funds, which primarily invest in a mixture of stocks and bonds with the aim of diversification to ease volatility, have become popular in Asia.
In Hong Kong, assets of diversified funds increased by 17% to $137.45bn in March from $117.24bn in the previous year, according to data from the Securities and Futures Commission.
Net sales during the first half of the year were positive at $3.1bn, compared to net outflows of $1.05bn for the full year 2016, according to data from HKIFA.
The majority of mixed-asset funds available for sale in Hong Kong focus on a geographic region – typically the managers invest globally or in Asia-Pacific, according to Luke Ng, senior vice president of research at FE Advisory Asia.
There are not many multi-asset funds that focus on a single country, he said. However, fund managers are now launching China-focused mixed-asset strategies.
“It is a relatively new concept, especially for funds that invest in both China’s onshore and offshore markets,” he said.
Against this backdrop, Ng compares two China mixed-asset products: the JP Morgan China Income Fund and the Schroders China Asset Income Fund.
Both funds are new. Although the JP Morgan fund was originally launched in 2009 (previously the JP Morgan China New Generation Fund), its strategy and name was changed in September last year, according to Ng.
The Schroders fund was launched in August last year.
M&G’s positive outlook; Wisdom from Schroders’s podcast; Alliance Bernstein on the power of curiosity; Janus Henderson on responsible AI; China’s retirement revolution; Apple and much more.
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