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

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>Active conviction rising: China Industrials allocations are nearing all-time highs, with record participation and expanding net overweights despite a declining MSCI EM benchmark weight.</li>
<li>Clear conviction overweight: 76% of GEM funds are overweight China &amp; HK Industrials, making it the strongest country/sector conviction play across the EM universe.</li>
<li>Broadening beyond CATL: While CATL remains dominant, ownership is widening to emerging names, even as second-tier stocks show sharper rotations and selective positioning.</li>
</ul>


Active conviction rising: China Industrials allocations are nearing all-time highs, with record participation and expanding net overweights despite a declining MSCI EM benchmark weight.
Clear conviction overweight: 76% of GEM funds are overweight China &amp; HK Industrials, making it the strongest country/sector conviction play across the EM universe.
Broadening beyond CATL: While CATL remains dominant, ownership is widening to emerging names, even as second-tier stocks show sharper rotations and selective positioning.


China & HK Industrials: EM’s Key Overweight Grows Stronger

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>EM allocations in Global funds have broken out of a multi-year range, reaching the highest level since 2019 as underweights narrow.</li>
<li>The move is led by Taiwan, China &amp; HK, and South Korea, with strong inflows and rising fund participation.</li>
<li>Despite the shift, EM exposure remains shallow and concentrated, making higher allocations a clear point of differentiation.</li>
</ul>


EM allocations in Global funds have broken out of a multi-year range, reaching the highest level since 2019 as underweights narrow.
The move is led by Taiwan, China &amp; HK, and South Korea, with strong inflows and rising fund participation.
Despite the shift, EM exposure remains shallow and concentrated, making higher allocations a clear point of differentiation.


Breaking the Range: EM Reclaims Attention in Global Portfolios

<ul>
<li>The Materials sector stands out as a key recovery candidate: low positioning but strong positive rotation across the GEM active universe.</li>
<li>Early inflows are being driven by China &amp; HK and South Africa, with rising fund participation and narrowing underweights.</li>
<li>Stock-Level rotation is visible in Gold Fields, Zijin Mining, and Anglo American, alongside a growing set of lightly held rising stars.</li>
</ul>


The Materials sector stands out as a key recovery candidate: low positioning but strong positive rotation across the GEM active universe.
Early inflows are being driven by China &amp; HK and South Africa, with rising fund participation and narrowing underweights.
Stock-Level rotation is visible in Gold Fields, Zijin Mining, and Anglo American, alongside a growing set of lightly held rising stars.


<ul>
<li>Consumer Discretionary is the strongest consensus overweight among UK active funds, with 85% positioned above the FTSE All Share Index.</li>
<li>The sector’s relative overweight has climbed steadily to decade highs, with 85% of funds positioned above benchmark.</li>
<li>Stock-Level tilts show consistent preference for Burberry, Whitbread, and Next, alongside reductions in Taylor Wimpey, Dowlais, and Frasers Group.</li>
</ul>


Consumer Discretionary is the strongest consensus overweight among UK active funds, with 85% positioned above the FTSE All Share Index.
The sector’s relative overweight has climbed steadily to decade highs, with 85% of funds positioned above benchmark.
Stock-Level tilts show consistent preference for Burberry, Whitbread, and Next, alongside reductions in Taylor Wimpey, Dowlais, and Frasers Group.


UK Consumer Discretionary Positioning: A Consensus Overweight

<ul>
<li>China exposure among GEM funds has rebounded to 26%, up from the 2024 low, but still far below the 37.5% peak. India has eased while Taiwan allocations hit new highs.</li>
<li>China remains a major EM underweight at -3.09% vs. benchmark, despite rising allocations. High Active funds stay the most underweight</li>
<li>Industrials see the strongest buying, while Utilities and Consumer sectors decline. Tencent and Alibaba dominate ownership, but many new names are entering the picture.</li>
</ul>


China exposure among GEM funds has rebounded to 26%, up from the 2024 low, but still far below the 37.5% peak. India has eased while Taiwan allocations hit new highs.
China remains a major EM underweight at -3.09% vs. benchmark, despite rising allocations. High Active funds stay the most underweight
Industrials see the strongest buying, while Utilities and Consumer sectors decline. Tencent and Alibaba dominate ownership, but many new names are entering the picture.


China & HK: Rebuild Slows Amid Heavy Sector and Stock Rotation

Steven Holden is the CEO and Founder of Copley Fund Research, an independent provider of research on equity fund positioning and performance.  Set up in 2014, Copley focuses on global, global emerging market, US, Asia Ex-Japan and China active equity funds, covering over $4tr in assets across 1300 active managers.  The company provides data and analysis on market trends, manager exposures and active fund performance to an audience of investment managers, pension funds and fund selectors worldwide.  Mr Holden’s 14-year investment banking career started in 2000, where he worked for Morgan Stanley as an equity derivative trader focused on emerging markets in London.  Following this, he spent 4 years at Citibank in London and Hong Kong as an Executive Director in derivative sales, focused again on emerging markets.