HEAD-TO-HEAD: Allianz versus JP Morgan

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Source: FE Fundinfo. Three-year cumulative returns in US dollars.

Performance

“It depends on the market environment to predict which one of these two funds will perform better,” said Liang.

“The JP Morgan fund has a quality growth focus, so we would expect it to do well in a growth environment, such as in 2017, 2019 and 2020,” she said.

“The strategy was also resilient in market downturns such as in the 2018 market sell off. But on the other hand, it may struggle during periods of a low-quality rally or deep value environment, which is actually the case in 2021 so far.”

The JP Morgan fund has generated a 66.15% three-year cumulative return, in US dollars, according to FE Fundinfo, outperforming its benchmark MSCI AC Asia Pacific index (38.09%) as well as its sector average (42.29%).

Its annualised volatility of 16.79% during the same period is lower than its benchmark (17.89%) but similar to its sector average (16.52%).

The Allianz fund is also growth oriented, so it is also likely to do well in a growth environment, as it did in 2019 and 2020,

“I would add that because the manager has a preference for small and midcap stocks, the Allianz fund can also enjoy a tail wind when smaller companies outperform their large-cap peers, which is the case in 2021 so far,” Liang said.

But conversely, the strategy may underperform during periods when deep value stocks rally, and also in general market downturns, such as in 2018 due to its small- and medium-cap bias, when there was a flight to safer assets, she added.

The Allianz fund has generated a 115.57% three-year cumulative return, in US dollars, according to FE Fundinfo, outperforming its benchmark MSCI AC Asia Pacific index (38.09%) as well as its sector average (42.29%).

Its annualised volatility of 22.73% during the same period is higher than its benchmark index (17.89%) and its peer average (16.52%).

Discrete calendar year performance

Source: FE Fundinfo. Annual returns in US dollars. *31 Dec 2020 – 13 December 2021

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