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

Cross Asset Strategy

<div>
In this analysis, we provide a detailed overview of investor positioning among 96 active Asia Ex-Japan funds with combined AUM of $80bn.  Highlights:
</div>
<div>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The big four of China &amp; HK, Taiwan, South Korea and India dominate holdings in Asia Ex-Japan.  The 4 countries combined account for 85.4% of total allocations, though all but India are held underweight versus the MSCI Asia Ex-Japan index.</li>
<li>China &amp; HK's weight in Asia Ex-Japan funds stands at a 4-year low of 42.96% having fallen heavily from the high of 52% back in August 2020.</li>
<li>Allocations in Indian stocks hit a new all-time high last month of 13.54%.  India has been the go-to overweight holding since the election of Narendra Modi in 2014, though managers are much more closely aligned to benchmark today.</li>
<li>
Indonesian allocations are close to their lowest levels on record.  Only 82.8% of the Asia Ex-Japan managers in our analysis have exposure to Indonesia,  with Comgest, Barings and Vontobel closing exposure over the last 6-months.
</li>
<li>Information Technology dominates the holdings picture, being both the largest sector holding and the largest sector overweight by some distance.  Opposing this are net underweights in Health Care (-1.61%), Materials (-1.25%) and Financials (-1.17%). </li>
<li>The key antagonist in China's tech crackdown, Consumer Discretionary weights have fallen from a high of 21.35% in October 2020 to 16.84% today.  In tandem, active managers have moved from an overweight of 2.18% to an underweight of -0.12%.  Confidence has certainly taken a knock.</li>
</ul>
Also analyzed in more detail:  Thailand, Health Care, Indian Financials, South Korean Consumer Staples, China Financials, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/baidu-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:179:1" rel="noopener">Baidu (BIDU US)</a> , <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a> , <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/midea-group-co-ltd-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16185:1" rel="noopener">Midea Group Co Ltd A (000333 CH)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jd-com-inc-adr" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:446:1" rel="noopener">JD.com Inc (ADR) (JD US).</a>
Analysis taken from our Asia Ex-Japan research, covering 96 active Asia Ex-Japan funds with combined AUM of $80bn. 
</div>


In this analysis, we provide a detailed overview of investor positioning among 96 active Asia Ex-Japan funds with combined AUM of $80bn.  Highlights:



The big four of China &amp; HK, Taiwan, South Korea and India dominate holdings in Asia Ex-Japan.  The 4 countries combined account for 85.4% of total allocations, though all but India are held underweight versus the MSCI Asia Ex-Japan index.
China &amp; HK's weight in Asia Ex-Japan funds stands at a 4-year low of 42.96% having fallen heavily from the high of 52% back in August 2020.
Allocations in Indian stocks hit a new all-time high last month of 13.54%.  India has been the go-to overweight holding since the election of Narendra Modi in 2014, though managers are much more closely aligned to benchmark today.

Indonesian allocations are close to their lowest levels on record.  Only 82.8% of the Asia Ex-Japan managers in our analysis have exposure to Indonesia,  with Comgest, Barings and Vontobel closing exposure over the last 6-months.

Information Technology dominates the holdings picture, being both the largest sector holding and the largest sector overweight by some distance.  Opposing this are net underweights in Health Care (-1.61%), Materials (-1.25%) and Financials (-1.17%). 
The key antagonist in China's tech crackdown, Consumer Discretionary weights have fallen from a high of 21.35% in October 2020 to 16.84% today.  In tandem, active managers have moved from an overweight of 2.18% to an underweight of -0.12%.  Confidence has certainly taken a knock.

Also analyzed in more detail:  Thailand, Health Care, Indian Financials, South Korean Consumer Staples, China Financials, Baidu (BIDU US) , Sea Ltd (SE US) , Midea Group Co Ltd A (000333 CH) and JD.com Inc (ADR) (JD US).
Analysis taken from our Asia Ex-Japan research, covering 96 active Asia Ex-Japan funds with combined AUM of $80bn. 


Asia Ex-Japan Positioning:  India & Tech at Record Highs

IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

Uncompromised, Independent, Conflict-Free Research

Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

Event-Driven

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bestway-global-holding-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26012:1" rel="noopener">Bestway Global Holding (3358 HK)</a> has despatched the scheme document in relation to a privatisation offer from Great Success Enterprises Holdings. The offeror is owned 92.0% by Mr Zhu (Founder, Chairman &amp; CEO) and 8.0% by Mr Zhu Jiachen, the son of Mr Zhu. The offeror will offer HK$4.38 per scheme share. Unsurprisingly, the IFA considers the offer to be fair and reasonable. We broadly agree with the IFA analysis with the exception that the peer multiple comparisons could be improved. <div class="content-highlight">
The key condition precedents are the headcount test along with the scheme approved by at least 75% disinterested shareholders and &lt;10% rejection by all disinterested shareholders. Fidelity holds a blocking stake of 2.45% of shares outstanding (source: CapitalIQ) but will likely support the privatisation offer due to the substantial premium of the offer price to long-term average share prices and P/E multiples.  
The court meeting is scheduled for 10 am on 15 September. At the last close price of HK$4.18 per share, the gross spread to the offer price is 4.8%. 
</div>

Bestway Global Holding (3358 HK) has despatched the scheme document in relation to a privatisation offer from Great Success Enterprises Holdings. The offeror is owned 92.0% by Mr Zhu (Founder, Chairman &amp; CEO) and 8.0% by Mr Zhu Jiachen, the son of Mr Zhu. The offeror will offer HK$4.38 per scheme share. Unsurprisingly, the IFA considers the offer to be fair and reasonable. We broadly agree with the IFA analysis with the exception that the peer multiple comparisons could be improved. 
The key condition precedents are the headcount test along with the scheme approved by at least 75% disinterested shareholders and &lt;10% rejection by all disinterested shareholders. Fidelity holds a blocking stake of 2.45% of shares outstanding (source: CapitalIQ) but will likely support the privatisation offer due to the substantial premium of the offer price to long-term average share prices and P/E multiples.  
The court meeting is scheduled for 10 am on 15 September. At the last close price of HK$4.18 per share, the gross spread to the offer price is 4.8%. 


Bestway Global’s Scheme Document, IFA Opinion

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bestway-global-holding-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26012:1" rel="noopener">Bestway Global Holding (3358 HK)</a> is one of the leading and one of the most well-established branded companies in the global water leisure products market. Bestway listed on the HKEx on 16 November 2017 at HK$4.38 per share to raise net proceeds of HK$1,094.1 million ($141 million).After market close on Friday, Bestway announced a privatisation offer by way of a scheme of arrangement from Mr Zhu Qiang, who is the Founder, Chairman &amp; CEO. The offeror will offer HK$4.38 per scheme share. The bid represents a premium of 27.0% over the closing price of HK$3.45 per share on the last trading day (22 June 2021 prior to the trading halt). The privatisation price of HK$4.38 is in line with the IPO price.<div class="content-highlight">The key condition precedents are the headcount test along with the scheme approved by at least 75% disinterested shareholders and &lt;10% rejection by all disinterested shareholders. As disinterested scheme shareholders represent 234.9 million shares or 22.19% of shares outstanding, the 10% blocking stake is 23.5 million shares or 2.22% of shares outstanding. Fidelity holds a blocking stake of 2.46% of shares outstanding (source: CapitalIQ) but will likely support the privatisation offer, in our view. While not a knockout offer, we believe that the privatisation bid will be successful. </div>

Bestway Global Holding (3358 HK) is one of the leading and one of the most well-established branded companies in the global water leisure products market. Bestway listed on the HKEx on 16 November 2017 at HK$4.38 per share to raise net proceeds of HK$1,094.1 million ($141 million).After market close on Friday, Bestway announced a privatisation offer by way of a scheme of arrangement from Mr Zhu Qiang, who is the Founder, Chairman &amp; CEO. The offeror will offer HK$4.38 per scheme share. The bid represents a premium of 27.0% over the closing price of HK$3.45 per share on the last trading day (22 June 2021 prior to the trading halt). The privatisation price of HK$4.38 is in line with the IPO price.The key condition precedents are the headcount test along with the scheme approved by at least 75% disinterested shareholders and &lt;10% rejection by all disinterested shareholders. As disinterested scheme shareholders represent 234.9 million shares or 22.19% of shares outstanding, the 10% blocking stake is 23.5 million shares or 2.22% of shares outstanding. Fidelity holds a blocking stake of 2.46% of shares outstanding (source: CapitalIQ) but will likely support the privatisation offer, in our view. While not a knockout offer, we believe that the privatisation bid will be successful. 

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Index Rebalance

The Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited (HSIL) announced the results of its review of the Hang Seng Family of Indexes post market close on 21 May. The constituent changes will be effective after the close of trading on 4 June.For the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-hang-seng-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22899:1" rel="noopener">Hong Kong Hang Seng Index (HSI INDEX)</a> there are 3 inclusions - <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xinyi-solar-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:318:1" rel="noopener">Xinyi Solar Holdings (968 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/byd-co-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20962:1" rel="noopener">BYD (1211 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/country-garden-services-holdings-company-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27343:1" rel="noopener">Country Garden Services Holdings (6098 HK)</a>.The 3 inclusions will increase the number of index constituents to 58. With the target of getting to 80 stocks by mid-2022, the expectation was for more stocks to be included at this review. What likely resulted in fewer stocks being added was the large turnover due to the capping changes.While we had expected the inclusion of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xinyi-solar-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:318:1" rel="noopener">Xinyi Solar Holdings (968 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/country-garden-services-holdings-company-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27343:1" rel="noopener">Country Garden Services Holdings (6098 HK)</a>, the inclusion of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/byd-co-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20962:1" rel="noopener">BYD (1211 HK)</a> will have a big impact since the stock has also been included in the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hang-seng-china-enterprises-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22900:1" rel="noopener">Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI INDEX)</a>. One-way turnover is estimated at 7.77% and will result in a one-way trade of HK$16.82bn.  The largest passive inflows will be on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (9988 HK)</a> as a result of the capping change from 5% to 8%, while the largest outflows will be from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aia-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14895:1" rel="noopener">AIA Group Ltd (1299 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hsbc-holdings-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:516:1" rel="noopener">HSBC Holdings (5 HK)</a> due to the capping change from 10% to 8%.There are only 10 trading days to implementation of the changes and we expect all 3 inclusions to open higher on Monday and continue to outperform the market over the period.

The Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited (HSIL) announced the results of its review of the Hang Seng Family of Indexes post market close on 21 May. The constituent changes will be effective after the close of trading on 4 June.For the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index (HSI INDEX) there are 3 inclusions - Xinyi Solar Holdings (968 HK), BYD (1211 HK) and Country Garden Services Holdings (6098 HK).The 3 inclusions will increase the number of index constituents to 58. With the target of getting to 80 stocks by mid-2022, the expectation was for more stocks to be included at this review. What likely resulted in fewer stocks being added was the large turnover due to the capping changes.While we had expected the inclusion of Xinyi Solar Holdings (968 HK) and Country Garden Services Holdings (6098 HK), the inclusion of BYD (1211 HK) will have a big impact since the stock has also been included in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI INDEX). One-way turnover is estimated at 7.77% and will result in a one-way trade of HK$16.82bn.  The largest passive inflows will be on Meituan (3690 HK) and Alibaba Group (9988 HK) as a result of the capping change from 5% to 8%, while the largest outflows will be from AIA Group Ltd (1299 HK), Tencent (700 HK) and HSBC Holdings (5 HK) due to the capping change from 10% to 8%.There are only 10 trading days to implementation of the changes and we expect all 3 inclusions to open higher on Monday and continue to outperform the market over the period.

HSI Index Rebalance: Only 3 Additions but BIG Turnover

HK/China Equity Long-Short

Osbert Tang, CFA

Quantitative Analysis

Our "Buy the Worst" strategy intended to beat the Hang Seng Index in 2020, as laid out in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/buy-the-worst-a-simple-strategy-to-beat-the-hang-seng-index-in-2020-and-the-years-to-come" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:35427" rel="noopener">"Buy the Worst" - A Simple Strategy to Beat the Hang Seng Index in 2020 and the Years to Come?</a>, did not work out well. The portfolio of the five worst performing Index constituents in 2019 registered an average of 26.1% plunge in share price YTD, sharply underperformed the 5.8% decline in HSI. In our view, this is primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic which hit the old economy stocks (which all five are) hardest. As for this year, as of 29 Dec, the five worst-performing HSI stocks YTD are <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/citic-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20590:1" rel="noopener">Citic Ltd (267 HK)</a> (again!), <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-overseas-land-invest" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:419:1" rel="noopener">China Overseas Land &amp; Investment Ltd (688 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cnooc-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:175:1" rel="noopener">CNOOC Ltd (883 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aac-technologies-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6544:1" rel="noopener">AAC Technologies Holdings (2018 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-unicom-hong-kong-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1016:1" rel="noopener">China Unicom Hong Kong (762 HK)</a>. While they do not look likely to outperform the Index in next year from their business exposure, we highlight that a rotation into old economy stocks as COVID-19 vaccines help to open up global economic recovery is a potential wild card.

Our "Buy the Worst" strategy intended to beat the Hang Seng Index in 2020, as laid out in "Buy the Worst" - A Simple Strategy to Beat the Hang Seng Index in 2020 and the Years to Come?, did not work out well. The portfolio of the five worst performing Index constituents in 2019 registered an average of 26.1% plunge in share price YTD, sharply underperformed the 5.8% decline in HSI. In our view, this is primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic which hit the old economy stocks (which all five are) hardest. As for this year, as of 29 Dec, the five worst-performing HSI stocks YTD are Citic Ltd (267 HK) (again!), China Overseas Land &amp; Investment Ltd (688 HK), CNOOC Ltd (883 HK), AAC Technologies Holdings (2018 HK) and China Unicom Hong Kong (762 HK). While they do not look likely to outperform the Index in next year from their business exposure, we highlight that a rotation into old economy stocks as COVID-19 vaccines help to open up global economic recovery is a potential wild card.  

A Review Of "Buy the Worst" Strategy in 2020 and Can It Beat the Hang Seng Index in 2021?

Hong Kong

Techtronic Industries Company Limited designs, manufactures, and markets power tools, outdoor power equipment, accessories, hand tools, layout and measuring tools, and floorcare and appliances. The Company's products are used by consumers, professional, and industrial users in the home improvement, repair, and construction industries.

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

Techtronic Industries (669 HK)

Asia Ex-Japan Positioning: India & Tech at Record Highs

In this analysis, we provide a detailed overview of investor positioning among 96 active Asia Ex-Japan funds with combined AUM of $80bn.

Steven Holden

Bestway Global’s Scheme Document, IFA Opinion

Bestway has despatched the scheme document. The court meeting is scheduled for 10 am on 15 September. At the last close price of HK$4.18 per share,...

Arun George

Bestway Global’s Privatisation Bid

Bestway announced a privatisation offer from Mr Zhu Qiang (the Founder, Chairman & CEO) at HK$4.38 per scheme share. While not a knockout offer, we...

Arun George

HSI Index Rebalance: Only 3 Additions but BIG Turnover

There are 3 inclusions (BYD, Xinyi Solar, CG Services) to the HSI taking the number of constituents up to 58. Turnover is high at 7.77% and will...

Brian Freitas

A Review Of "Buy the Worst" Strategy in 2020 and Can It Beat the Hang Seng Index in 2021?

While our "Buy the Worst" strategy underperformed the HSI sharply YTD, we see extending the strategy into 2021 may catch up as the rotation back to...

Osbert Tang, CFA

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)