An engine of world growth for 20 years, the largest consumer of commodities and world’s number two economy has somehow slipped into “alternative investment” buckets for many global investors.
China’s property bust and increasingly interventionist government, along with deepening geopolitical fissures with the United States, have dramatically dimmed its allure as a destination for international capital.
China may not yet be “uninvestable,” as U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo suggested U.S. companies believe, but many investors are recategorizing their reduced exposure – in some cases to alternative investment.
“Alts” are typically assets outside the traditional stocks, bonds and cash buckets, like hedge funds, real estate and private equity. They are often riskier but potentially more lucrative bets, and are attractive for their diversification and hedging qualities.
Crucially, they are non-correlated with traditional assets. This is where many investors see Chinese stocks and bonds now – a non-correlated, idiosyncratic play, effectively a hedge against their core bets.
That was the anecdotal evidence garnered from investors, asset managers and allocators on the sidelines of the recent “Hedge Fund Week” conferences in Miami. It is also supported by global capital flows trends.
One fund manager said he may put 5-10% of his portfolio in Chinese stocks but is fully prepared to lose it. A hedge fund manager overseeing billions of dollars of assets said he likes China’s “idiosyncrasies” and diversification qualities but noted that his investors’ money is mostly offshore, not onshore.
Alex Lennard, fund manager at Ruffer, admitted that the economic climate in China is “clearly awful” but his firm is putting money there, essentially as a hedge.
“It’s a small part of our portfolio, about 4%, but it does provide an offset to some of the other market ‘certainties’ that exist,” Lennard said.
It’s worth noting that they are relative optimists on China. The wider consensus is far gloomier.
OUTFLOWS, OUTFLOWS, OUTFLOWS
According to Morningstar Direct, U.S. equity funds’ average asset-weighted exposure to Chinese stocks in December last year was 1.38%, down from 2.17% three years earlier, while their average equal-weighted exposure is down to 3.5% from 4.13%.
U.S. emerging market funds’ allocation to China as a share of total EM exposure declined to 20.6% from 28.6% on an asset-weighted basis, and to 20% from 26% on an equal-weighted basis.
It is a similar pattern across global emerging market funds. The China portion as a share of their overall EM equity allocation has fallen to 19.5% from 27.1% on an asset-weighted basis and to 21% from 25.5% on an equal-weighted basis, according to Morningstar Data.
Demand for Chinese bonds should be stronger though, right?
China is included in the $1.2 trillion benchmark JP Morgan EMBI Global Diversified bond index, and there is now an in-built demand for Chinese bonds from the yuan’s emergence in recent years as an alternative international reserve currency.
But China’s share of the $12 trillion global FX reserves pie has slipped to a four-year low of 2.37%, and has never been higher than 2.83%, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Figures from the Institute of International Finance show outflows from Chinese debt portfolios for seven straight months and only three monthly inflows in the last two years.
Emerging market ex-China debt funds, meanwhile, have attracted inflows for the past seven months and in January drew in $47.3 billion, the most since October 2022 and one of the highest on record.
Whichever way you slice it, investors of all stripes are taking chips off the Chinese table.
BURST OPTIMISM
This is not how many thought it would pan out.
A Greenwich Associates survey of institutional money managers in 2020 showed that pension funds and endowments had 3-5% allocations to China and only 5% of North American institutions had any dedicated exposure to Chinese stocks.
Nearly a quarter of respondents said they planned to increase or significantly increase their dedicated allocation to Chinese equities in the next three to five years.
Liang Yin, investment director at Willis Towers Watson, wrote in November that year that investors should consider raising their allocation to China to around 20% over the next decade.
But Beijing’s closer alignment with Moscow, fraying relations with Washington, and a strengthening interventionist hand in business and markets at home have scared a lot of horses.
The findings of a recent survey by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum of 22 public pension and sovereign wealth funds managing $4.3 trillion in assets were startling – not one had a positive outlook for China’s economy or saw higher relative returns there.
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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
