Die chinesischen Aktienmärkte legten im Januar den Rückwärtsgang ein, obwohl es zuerst positive Impulse durch das neu unterzeichnete Handelsabkommen zwischen China und den USA gab. Doch in der zweiten Monatshälfte nahmen die Sorgen um die Auswirkungen des Corona-Virus zu und schickten die Börsen auf Talfahrt. Jing Ning, FondsManagerin des Fidelity China Focus Fund A Acc EUR (WKN A0M94A, ISIN LU0318931192), analysiert in ihrem aktuellen Marktbericht für Januar Portfoliostruktur und Rendite des auf günstig bewertete Unternehmen aus dem “Reich der Mitte” fokussierten FondsProduktes. In ihren Managersichten erhalten SJB Investoren alle wichtigen Informationen über den in der FondsStrategie SJB Substanz enthaltenen Fidelity-Aktienfonds.
Market Environment
Chinese equities declined in January. The market started on a positive note, with the signing of the “phase one” of the trade deal between the US and China. However, gains were pared in the second half of the month as uncertainty over the potential impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China and concerns about a contagion spurred an indiscriminate selloff in the market. Consequently, China has taken several substantial measures to curtail the contagion, including extending the Chinese New Year public holidays, and imposing large scale quarantines and travel restrictions. A Chinese international trade promotion agency also stated that it would offer force majeure certificates to companies that are struggling to cope with the impact that the novel coronavirus epidemic is having on their business with overseas partners. Separately, Chinese economy grew in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier, in line with estimates and unchanged from the previous quarter’s pace. The People’s Bank of China announced a further cut in the reserve requirement ratio to inject liquidity into the banking system and support small and medium enterprises and private sector firms. At the sector level, real estate, energy, materials and financials were among the weakest performers. Meanwhile, information technology (IT) and health care stocks gained.
Fund Performance
The fund underperformed the index in January as the near-term black swan event overshadowed the long-term prospects of conviction positions in the financials and real estate sectors. Financial positions in China Life Insurance, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank were caught in the sharp uncertainty driven selloff in Chinese stocks amid newsflow over the novel coronavirus outbreak. Investors worried that demand for credit would weaken further and net interest margins would be under pressure from potential loan prime rate cuts. China Life Insurance delivered encouraging growth in new business at the start of the year. However, its shares fell following the virus outbreak owing to concerns over its potential impact on agency productivity. Concerns over weakness in property sales amid the novel coronavirus outbreak hurt the position in property developer China Overseas Land & Investment. On a positive note, telecommunication services provider China Mobile attracted investors owing to its stable cash flows and defensive appeal. The position in video surveillance products manufacturer Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology proved rewarding as the company expanded it multi-sensor product mix. Expectations of robust surveillance demand in emerging markets and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) cameras and related solutions in China also attracted investor interest.
Fund Positioning
The manager has a value and contrarian style that is reflected in the fund’s positioning. Her bottom-up approach focuses on determining the intrinsic value of a company rather than pursuing themes. As an aggregate of the manager’s security selection process, the fund remains notably overweight in the energy, financials and materials sectors. Among key overweight holdings, China Life Insurance is a beneficiary of long-term structural growth in the Chinese insurance industry. Its management is focussed on enhancing its product mix and improving agent productivity. Exploration and production company CNOOC is another key position in the portfolio owing to its cost discipline, steady production growth and dividend yield opportunity. The manager retained the exposure to Lenovo as the personal computer cycle remains strong. The replacement cycle also has more room to grow, while the company is focusing on higher growth premium segments. The long-term outlook for its datacentre business is also encouraging.
