Asian Hedge Fund Manager, Long Short Equity, Macro

David Mudd

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>Hong Kong Alpha portfolio gained 16.26% in January resulting in a 6.2% outperformance to its benchmark.  The portfolio has outperformed HK indexes by 48% to 63% since inception on 10/1/24.</li>
<li>Hong Kong Alpha has generated 50% of its return from alpha and has a Sharpe ratio of 1.79 since inception.  The portfolio's annualized mean excess return is 28%.</li>
<li>At the end of January, we reduced positions in the materials, communications, and conglomerate sectors and added positions in the food, energy, and manufacturing sectors.</li>
</ul>


Hong Kong Alpha portfolio gained 16.26% in January resulting in a 6.2% outperformance to its benchmark.  The portfolio has outperformed HK indexes by 48% to 63% since inception on 10/1/24.
Hong Kong Alpha has generated 50% of its return from alpha and has a Sharpe ratio of 1.79 since inception.  The portfolio's annualized mean excess return is 28%.
At the end of January, we reduced positions in the materials, communications, and conglomerate sectors and added positions in the food, energy, and manufacturing sectors.


HONG KONG ALPHA PORTFOLIO: (January 2026)

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

<ul>
<li>China &amp; HK allocations among Global funds have hit new lows, with 25.5% of funds avoiding the region entirely and a record 79.6% underweight versus the benchmark.</li>
<li>In the six months leading up to recent stimulus measures, another 5.4% of funds fully exited their China &amp; HK exposure.</li>
<li>Tencent and Alibaba are well below their 2020 highs, while AIA Group ownership moved lower and China Construction Bank continues its long-term decline</li>
</ul>


China &amp; HK allocations among Global funds have hit new lows, with 25.5% of funds avoiding the region entirely and a record 79.6% underweight versus the benchmark.
In the six months leading up to recent stimulus measures, another 5.4% of funds fully exited their China &amp; HK exposure.
Tencent and Alibaba are well below their 2020 highs, while AIA Group ownership moved lower and China Construction Bank continues its long-term decline


China:  Record Bearish Positioning Ahead of Stimulus

<ul>
<li>Hong Kong market quietly broke its downward trend channel last week, however the HSI met strong resistance at 18200 (100 Week Moving Average).</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/picc-property-casualty-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:350:1" rel="noopener">PICC Property &amp; Casualty H (2328 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-petroleum-chemical-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:369:1" rel="noopener">China Petroleum &amp; Chemical (386 HK)</a> broke to new highs relative to MSCI indices.  Sinopec may benefit from stronger RMB in 2H24.
</li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shenzhou-intl-group-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10415:1" rel="noopener">Shenzhou Intl Group Holdings (2313 HK)</a> had a short-term turnaround from its downtrend.  The company reported growth in sales and better margins in 2Q24.</li>
</ul>


Hong Kong market quietly broke its downward trend channel last week, however the HSI met strong resistance at 18200 (100 Week Moving Average).

PICC Property &amp; Casualty H (2328 HK) and China Petroleum &amp; Chemical (386 HK) broke to new highs relative to MSCI indices.  Sinopec may benefit from stronger RMB in 2H24.

Shenzhou Intl Group Holdings (2313 HK) had a short-term turnaround from its downtrend.  The company reported growth in sales and better margins in 2Q24.


Technically Speaking, Breakouts and Breakdowns: HONG KONG (SEPTEMBER 3)

Product Marketing Manager, Criat

Raghav Chandra Mathur

Product Marketing Manager

Next-Generation Credit Analytics Provider

Criat

Criat specializes in new-generation data-driven credit analytics. Leveraging our industry-leading DeepCredit analytical technologies, we produce daily-updated forward-looking credit assessment and valuation to help financial institutions stay ahead of risks. Coupled with use-case-driven applications, we extract insights, answer questions and enable smarter credit decisions.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>Insurers domiciled in Advanced Asian Economies have reaped the benefits of the higher-for-longer interest rate environment that has buoyed profitability for the sub-sector, even though operational headwinds and policy uncertainty remain key challenges for the sector in the latter half of the year.</li><li>Suffice to say the trend in Insurers’ credit risk profiles, measured using Criat’s Credit Cycle Indices (CCCIs), has been non-homogenous across the continent with firms domiciled in economies such as South Korea and Hong Kong facing a substantially higher risk than those domiciled in Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan.</li><li>Strong net investment returns over the past year have helped boost profitability for most of the sub-sector that has increased its exposure to government securities. </li></ul>

Insurers domiciled in Advanced Asian Economies have reaped the benefits of the higher-for-longer interest rate environment that has buoyed profitability for the sub-sector, even though operational headwinds and policy uncertainty remain key challenges for the sector in the latter half of the year.Suffice to say the trend in Insurers’ credit risk profiles, measured using Criat’s Credit Cycle Indices (CCCIs), has been non-homogenous across the continent with firms domiciled in economies such as South Korea and Hong Kong facing a substantially higher risk than those domiciled in Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan.Strong net investment returns over the past year have helped boost profitability for most of the sub-sector that has increased its exposure to government securities. 

Leaders and Laggards in Advanced Asia-Domiciled Insurance Sector

Research and consultancy, Tabbush Report

Daniel Tabbush

Research and consultancy

Tabbush Report

We provide research and consultancy on Asian banks. Our focus is on what we call “Asian bank research, without the noise.” We are interested in the most critical swing-factors for banks, the NPL and credit cycle, and where we believe there is a gap between perception and reality. We often focus on the less studied components of bank financial statements.  Our research is highly thematic, sometimes examining unlisted banks and companies as a window on mainstream banks. 

Being independent allows us to look at smaller banks, often overlooked by others. Analysis of BIS bank guidelines in the context of Asia, is also a focal point, while we also analyze global banks operating in the region. We use what we believe is the most comprehensive, reliable financials database, SNL Financial. S&P Capital IQ augments our database, with corporate data and CEIC, with economics. 

Asian bank research, without the noise.

<ul>
<li>The risk for US small banks is clear with the major charge taken by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/new-york-community-bancorp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1193:1" rel="noopener">New York Community Bank (NYCB US)</a> for its CRE exposure</li>
<li>Small banks in the US, those outside the largest 25 by assets, have 45% of their loans in CRE which equates to 2.9x shareholders' equity </li>
<li>The reality is that NYCB's credit costs are now far higher than in the recessionary period of the early 1990s, showing what some banks can face in coming quarters</li>
</ul>


The risk for US small banks is clear with the major charge taken by New York Community Bank (NYCB US) for its CRE exposure
Small banks in the US, those outside the largest 25 by assets, have 45% of their loans in CRE which equates to 2.9x shareholders' equity 
The reality is that NYCB's credit costs are now far higher than in the recessionary period of the early 1990s, showing what some banks can face in coming quarters


US Banks - NYCB Credit Costs Are Much Higher than in the Early 1990s

Hong Kong

AIA Group is a Hong Kong-based multinational insurance and finance corporation, and the largest publicly traded life insurance group in the Asia-Pacific region. It offers a wide range of products including life, accident, and health insurance, savings plans, employee benefits, and wealth management services. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

AIA Group (AAGIY US)

HONG KONG ALPHA PORTFOLIO: (January 2026)

At the end of January, we began to move out of materials and tech and into early cycle sectors. We continue with mid-month exposure adjustments: we...

David Mudd

China: Record Bearish Positioning Ahead of Stimulus

China & HK allocations among Global funds have hit new lows, with 25.5% of funds avoiding the region entirely and a record 79.6% underweight versus...

Steven Holden

Technically Speaking, Breakouts and Breakdowns: HONG KONG (SEPTEMBER 3)

Hong Kong market broke its downtrend however it met strong resistance just above 18k. PICC and Sinopec broke to new highs relative to MSCI...

David Mudd

Leaders and Laggards in Advanced Asia-Domiciled Insurance Sector

Insurers domiciled in Advanced Asian Economies have reaped the benefits of the higher-for-longer interest rate environment that has buoyed...

Criat

US Banks - NYCB Credit Costs Are Much Higher than in the Early 1990s

US CRE loan risk is clearest now with the NYCB charge taken in 4Q23, putting its credit costs now well higher than the recessionary period in...

Daniel Tabbush

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)