Asian Hedge Fund Manager, Long Short Equity, Macro

David Mudd

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>Hong Kong Alpha portfolio gained 8.45% in September and 60.89% and 62.80% YTD and since launch one year ago.  The portfolio has outperformed Hong Kong indexes by more than 40%.</li>
<li>The portfolio has a Sharpe ratio of 3.23 YTD and has generated more than 40% of its returns from stock-picking (alpha).  Its beta is low at only 1.17.</li>
<li>At the end of September, we increased exposure to AI and robotics and sold positions in the consumer and finance sectors.</li>
</ul>


Hong Kong Alpha portfolio gained 8.45% in September and 60.89% and 62.80% YTD and since launch one year ago.  The portfolio has outperformed Hong Kong indexes by more than 40%.
The portfolio has a Sharpe ratio of 3.23 YTD and has generated more than 40% of its returns from stock-picking (alpha).  Its beta is low at only 1.17.
At the end of September, we increased exposure to AI and robotics and sold positions in the consumer and finance sectors.


HONG KONG ALPHA PORTFOLIO: (September 2025)

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>The global robotics industry is experiencing rapid growth as the combination of AI and manufacturing efficiency feed demand for robotic products. As a global robotics leader China's companies are benefiting.</li>
<li>Global robotics industry is projected to double over the next few years to over $150 billion by 2030.  China is the world's largest market for industrial robots.</li>
<li>China's leading robotics companies serve industrial industries like auto, equipment, and electronics, as well as service industries like healthcare, biotech, logistics, and hospitality.</li>
</ul>


The global robotics industry is experiencing rapid growth as the combination of AI and manufacturing efficiency feed demand for robotic products. As a global robotics leader China's companies are benefiting.
Global robotics industry is projected to double over the next few years to over $150 billion by 2030.  China is the world's largest market for industrial robots.
China's leading robotics companies serve industrial industries like auto, equipment, and electronics, as well as service industries like healthcare, biotech, logistics, and hospitality.


China Robotics: EVOLUTION OF THE HUMANOID RACE

<ul>
<li>Baidu announced that the company has seen a rapid uptake in its Robotaxi business on the mainland.</li>
<li>Baidu is at the forefront of the industry globally with its Fully Self Driving taxis available in more than 10 major cities in China.</li>
<li>Baidu's autonomous taxi unit, Apollo Go, has over 100 million kilometers of high-level autonomous safety driving mileage and holds over 5,000 autonomous driving patents.</li>
</ul>


Baidu announced that the company has seen a rapid uptake in its Robotaxi business on the mainland.
Baidu is at the forefront of the industry globally with its Fully Self Driving taxis available in more than 10 major cities in China.
Baidu's autonomous taxi unit, Apollo Go, has over 100 million kilometers of high-level autonomous safety driving mileage and holds over 5,000 autonomous driving patents.


CHINA: Fasten Your Seat Belts! BAIDU Accelerates in the Fast Growing Robotaxi Industry.

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pony-ai-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44035:1" rel="noopener">Pony AI (PONY US)</a> raised around US$260m in its upsized US ADR listing in Nov 2024. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.</li>
<li>As per Frost &amp; Sullivan, Pony AI was among the first companies in China to obtain licenses to operate fully driverless robotaxis in all four Tier-1 cities in China.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



Pony AI (PONY US) raised around US$260m in its upsized US ADR listing in Nov 2024. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.
As per Frost &amp; Sullivan, Pony AI was among the first companies in China to obtain licenses to operate fully driverless robotaxis in all four Tier-1 cities in China.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


Pony AI IPO Lockup - US$4.3bn Lockup Release with Stock at 69x EV/Sales

<ul>
<li>Hong Kong Alpha Portfolio returned 5.23% in December and outperformed the benchmark by 5.92%.  The portfolio has outperformed Hong Kong indexes by 10.36% to 14.38% since its inception on 10/01/24.</li>
<li>About 80% of the portfolio's excess returns have been from alpha generation.  The portfolio has no exposure to Real Estate, Healthcare, Materials, or Energy at this time.</li>
<li>At month end, we sold ZhongAn Online P&amp;C Insurance C (6060 HK) , China Longyuan Power (916 HK) , CRRC Corp Ltd H (1766 HK), and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/weibo-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:35280:1" rel="noopener">Weibo (9898 HK)</a> .</li>
</ul>


Hong Kong Alpha Portfolio returned 5.23% in December and outperformed the benchmark by 5.92%.  The portfolio has outperformed Hong Kong indexes by 10.36% to 14.38% since its inception on 10/01/24.
About 80% of the portfolio's excess returns have been from alpha generation.  The portfolio has no exposure to Real Estate, Healthcare, Materials, or Energy at this time.
At month end, we sold ZhongAn Online P&amp;C Insurance C (6060 HK) , China Longyuan Power (916 HK) , CRRC Corp Ltd H (1766 HK), and Weibo (9898 HK) .


HONG KONG ALPHA PORTFOLIO (December 2024)

China

RoboSense Technology Co., Ltd provides LiDAR and perception solutions. The Company offers hardware, sensors, and AI perception software. RoboSense Technology applies its products in a wide range of application scenarios, particularly ADAS (advanced driving assistance system) and robotics. RoboSense Technology serves customers in China and North America.

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Robosense Technology (2498 HK)

HONG KONG ALPHA PORTFOLIO: (September 2025)

Due to the sudden escalation of US/China tensions we have decided to reduce AI and other risk exposure in the Hong Kong Alpha portfolio at the open...

David Mudd

China Robotics: EVOLUTION OF THE HUMANOID RACE

Global robotics is experiencing rapid growth as the combination of AI & manufacturing efficiency grow robotic product demand. Rapid industry growth...

David Mudd

CHINA: Fasten Your Seat Belts! BAIDU Accelerates in the Fast Growing Robotaxi Industry.

Baidu shares begin to re-rate as its new AI modil outperformed Google Gemini and Open AI's GPT-5. The new version of Ernie AI reasoning model also...

David Mudd

Pony AI IPO Lockup - US$4.3bn Lockup Release with Stock at 69x EV/Sales

Pony AI (PONY US) raised around US$260m in its upsized US ADR listing in Nov 2024. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.

Sumeet Singh

HONG KONG ALPHA PORTFOLIO (December 2024)

Hong Kong Alpha porfolio returned 5.29% in December and has outperformed Hong Kong indexes by 10% to 14% since its inception on 10/01/24.The...

David Mudd

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