China and US Equity Analyst

Roger Xie

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>We become increasing encouraged that China equity (A-share and Hong Kong) market could stage a medium-term rebound after prolonged market correction since beginning of the year. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shanghai-shenzhen-csi-300-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22906:1" rel="noopener">Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300 INDEX)</a> gained 0.5% and tech-focused <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chinext-price-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:25483:1" rel="noopener">Chinext Price Index (SZ399006 INDEX)</a> gained 2.6% past week. The daily average traded value rebounded to RMB 800bn. We expect tech will likely lead the rebound since they have declined the biggest in the correction.</li>
<li>On the macro front, China April data on domestic activity is generally weaker than expected. The biggest disappointment came from retail sales, which suddenly lost momentum in April.  Industrial Production (IP) also came in below expectations in April (+0.5% month-over-month). The domestic Treasury bond yields have been moving lower after the release of April macro data. Combined with recent statement from China central bank, we believe this leaves more room for central bank to provide more liquidity to the market.</li>
<li>On the earning front, around 76% of MSCI China constituents have released their 1Q21 earnings. They have reported earnings growth 35.6% in 1Q21 and majority of them beat market consensus. Sectors with the highest growth have recovered quickly from last year. Semiconductor design, electronics with AR/VR, automobile electronics, and consumption would likely outperform in coming months. </li>
</ul>


We become increasing encouraged that China equity (A-share and Hong Kong) market could stage a medium-term rebound after prolonged market correction since beginning of the year. Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300 INDEX) gained 0.5% and tech-focused Chinext Price Index (SZ399006 INDEX) gained 2.6% past week. The daily average traded value rebounded to RMB 800bn. We expect tech will likely lead the rebound since they have declined the biggest in the correction.
On the macro front, China April data on domestic activity is generally weaker than expected. The biggest disappointment came from retail sales, which suddenly lost momentum in April.  Industrial Production (IP) also came in below expectations in April (+0.5% month-over-month). The domestic Treasury bond yields have been moving lower after the release of April macro data. Combined with recent statement from China central bank, we believe this leaves more room for central bank to provide more liquidity to the market.
On the earning front, around 76% of MSCI China constituents have released their 1Q21 earnings. They have reported earnings growth 35.6% in 1Q21 and majority of them beat market consensus. Sectors with the highest growth have recovered quickly from last year. Semiconductor design, electronics with AR/VR, automobile electronics, and consumption would likely outperform in coming months. 


China Equity Strategy: Market Set to Rebound and Rotate Back into Growth-Focused Tech

Chief Economist & Political Strategist, CrossASEAN Research

Prasenjit K. Basu

Chief Economist & Political Strategist

CrossASEAN Research

At CrossASEAN Research we strive to produce unbiased and differentiated on the ground insights on companies across South East Asia. Our Research is produced for the most part after face to face meetings and conversations with company management to dig deep into the long term vision and strategy of the companies we cover. We seek to deliver investable and actionable themes on sectors and markets across SE Asia, often in collaboration with other Insight Providers across the region, pooling the vast experience of the analysts within the Smartkarma Ecosystem. We also offer bespoke work and tailor made trips for our clients. 

Insights across South East Asia

Macroeconomics

Trade data for February 2021 (due next week), the first for the Biden era, will be scrutinized for bilateral deficits. In 2020, the US' bilateral deficits with only 3 of its top-10 trade partners declined -- Canada, Japan and Germany -- suggesting that Trump tariffs on steel and aluminium had worked partially. The US deficit with China declined sharply in 2019 and in Jan-Oct 2020, but mysteriously widened in the next 3 months. The US suspects that big deficits with Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia reflect transshipment of mainland-China products via those countries, and they are consequently already coming under some pressure. The trade war may not heat up further under Biden, but it will not cool down anytime soon. The US had a trade deficit of US$916 billion in 2020, 6% larger than in 2019, with exports down 14.1% YoY and imports down 6.6% YoY. But with net tourist and student inflows to the US down sharply, the current account deficit widened by as much as 35% to US$647 billion or 3.1% of GDP in 2020 (the largest in a decade, but much lower than the 2006 peak of 6% of GDP). US bilateral trade deficits with Canada, Japan and Germany (which are among top-5 trade partners) declined in 2020, suggesting that the impact of the steel and aluminium tariffs imposed early in the Trump term were beginning to finally pay off at least partly. Importantly, for the second consecutive year, the bilateral trade deficit with China declined (by a modest 3.6% YoY) to US$311 billion, the lowest since 2011. That bilateral deficit had widened in 2017 and 2018 (while Trump was only threatening but not actually imposing any tariffs). The imposition of tariffs on China's imports in 2019 (extended in 2020 to nearly half of goods imports from China) did contribute to reducing the US bilateral trade deficit with China. However, US imports from China increased 23.8% YoY in November-December 2020 (immediately after the US election), having declined in 9 of the first 10 months of 2020, and rose 17.5% YoY in Jan 2021.  The beneficiaries of export diversion from China were Vietnam, Switzerland, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia, who saw US imports from them rise significantly in 2020 -- thereby also widening the US' bilateral trade deficits with them in 2020. The US believes that at least some of these countries' widening trade surpluses with the US reflect Chinese exports being transshipped to the US via those countries. So the Biden administration is likely to pay increased attention not only to the bilateral trade deficit with China (which has mysteriously risen sharply again since the election), but also bilateral deficits with Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, etc., which may reflect the impact of transshipment of mainland-Chinese products into the US.

Trade data for February 2021 (due next week), the first for the Biden era, will be scrutinized for bilateral deficits. In 2020, the US' bilateral deficits with only 3 of its top-10 trade partners declined -- Canada, Japan and Germany -- suggesting that Trump tariffs on steel and aluminium had worked partially. The US deficit with China declined sharply in 2019 and in Jan-Oct 2020, but mysteriously widened in the next 3 months. The US suspects that big deficits with Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia reflect transshipment of mainland-China products via those countries, and they are consequently already coming under some pressure. The trade war may not heat up further under Biden, but it will not cool down anytime soon. The US had a trade deficit of US$916 billion in 2020, 6% larger than in 2019, with exports down 14.1% YoY and imports down 6.6% YoY. But with net tourist and student inflows to the US down sharply, the current account deficit widened by as much as 35% to US$647 billion or 3.1% of GDP in 2020 (the largest in a decade, but much lower than the 2006 peak of 6% of GDP). US bilateral trade deficits with Canada, Japan and Germany (which are among top-5 trade partners) declined in 2020, suggesting that the impact of the steel and aluminium tariffs imposed early in the Trump term were beginning to finally pay off at least partly. Importantly, for the second consecutive year, the bilateral trade deficit with China declined (by a modest 3.6% YoY) to US$311 billion, the lowest since 2011. That bilateral deficit had widened in 2017 and 2018 (while Trump was only threatening but not actually imposing any tariffs). The imposition of tariffs on China's imports in 2019 (extended in 2020 to nearly half of goods imports from China) did contribute to reducing the US bilateral trade deficit with China. However, US imports from China increased 23.8% YoY in November-December 2020 (immediately after the US election), having declined in 9 of the first 10 months of 2020, and rose 17.5% YoY in Jan 2021.  The beneficiaries of export diversion from China were Vietnam, Switzerland, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia, who saw US imports from them rise significantly in 2020 -- thereby also widening the US' bilateral trade deficits with them in 2020. The US believes that at least some of these countries' widening trade surpluses with the US reflect Chinese exports being transshipped to the US via those countries. So the Biden administration is likely to pay increased attention not only to the bilateral trade deficit with China (which has mysteriously risen sharply again since the election), but also bilateral deficits with Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, etc., which may reflect the impact of transshipment of mainland-Chinese products into the US. 

US: Trump's Record Card on Trade Mixed; China Trade Already Challenging Biden

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

MSCI Emerging Markets Index / Technical Analysis

Price and RS uptrends for the MSCI EM index continues to underpin our bullish outlook for emerging market equities -- remain overweight. We continue to attribute much of EM’s outperformance to the intact downtrend in the US dollar (DXY). As long as weakness in the DXY persists we believe EM’s outperformance is likely to continue.

Price and RS uptrends for the MSCI EM index continues to underpin our bullish outlook for emerging market equities -- remain overweight. We continue to attribute much of EM’s outperformance to the intact downtrend in the US dollar (DXY). As long as weakness in the DXY persists we believe EM’s outperformance is likely to continue.

EM Remains Global Leadership -- Remain Overweight

<ul>
<li>China Asset Management industry has record year in 2020, with AUM approaching RMB 20 trillion, a 35% year-over-year growth. The total domestic mutual funds have reached about 8000. Equity-focused funds AUM stands at 10-year high RMB 6.4 trillion, accounting  10% of A-share free-float market-cap. This underscored that domestic institution funds have increasing participation and influence in A-share market. And investment positions and style have been re-shaped accordingly.</li>
<li>China Asset Management industry likely grows at 10% CAGR from 2018 to 2025 and to reach RMB 139 trillion by 2025. This is fueled by the increasing disposal income and stronger corporate balance sheet. It is estimated that the largest contribution for the larger market size is coming from saving deposit, which is constantly seeking higher yield and portfolio diversification. And the contribution to investing in A-share market will continue to rise.</li>
<li>This trend will be long-term positive for A-share market. It is also more important to look into local fund management's equity holding to get some hints on the market. The data shows local mutual funds’ position is currently at 4-year highs, as evidenced by their currently low cash ratio of 10.1% vs the past 5-year average of 13%. Retail investors, which account over 80% of daily liquidity and own ~60% of the free ﬂoat market cap, also appear constructively positioned in A shares based on several indicators, such as new brokerage account openings, margin financing, and fund flow. </li>
</ul>


China Asset Management industry has record year in 2020, with AUM approaching RMB 20 trillion, a 35% year-over-year growth. The total domestic mutual funds have reached about 8000. Equity-focused funds AUM stands at 10-year high RMB 6.4 trillion, accounting  10% of A-share free-float market-cap. This underscored that domestic institution funds have increasing participation and influence in A-share market. And investment positions and style have been re-shaped accordingly.
China Asset Management industry likely grows at 10% CAGR from 2018 to 2025 and to reach RMB 139 trillion by 2025. This is fueled by the increasing disposal income and stronger corporate balance sheet. It is estimated that the largest contribution for the larger market size is coming from saving deposit, which is constantly seeking higher yield and portfolio diversification. And the contribution to investing in A-share market will continue to rise.
This trend will be long-term positive for A-share market. It is also more important to look into local fund management's equity holding to get some hints on the market. The data shows local mutual funds’ position is currently at 4-year highs, as evidenced by their currently low cash ratio of 10.1% vs the past 5-year average of 13%. Retail investors, which account over 80% of daily liquidity and own ~60% of the free ﬂoat market cap, also appear constructively positioned in A shares based on several indicators, such as new brokerage account openings, margin financing, and fund flow. 


China Asset Management: Record-High AUM and User Growth, Set to Expand Further in 2021

Cross-Asset Liquidity Strategist, CrossBorder Capital

Michael J. Howell

Cross-Asset Liquidity Strategist

Implementing Research Using Alt Data & AI

CrossBorder Capital

CrossBorder Capital is a London-based independent investment advisory firm. Founded in 1996, it exploits a gap in the investment arena by focusing on Central bank liquidity. 

It specialises in the monitoring and analysis of global liquidity flows - an important determinant of asset prices, from currencies through to bonds, equities and real estate.

CrossBorder Capital implements its investment strategy and currently manages over US$ 350m.


<ul>
<li>There is no bubble in stock prices</li>
<li>P/Es are an inappropriate and misleading guide to assessing aggregate stock markets</li>
<li>Aggregate stock markets depend on liquidity and behavioral factors</li>
<li>
China and Emerging Markets have the most to gain from future equity investment</li>
</ul>


There is no bubble in stock prices
P/Es are an inappropriate and misleading guide to assessing aggregate stock markets
Aggregate stock markets depend on liquidity and behavioral factors

China and Emerging Markets have the most to gain from future equity investment


China

The MSCI China Index is a free-float weighted equity index. It was developed with a base value of 100 as of December 31, 1992.

MSCI China Index (MXCN INDEX)

China Equity Strategy: Market Set to Rebound and Rotate Back into Growth-Focused Tech

We become increasing encouraged that China equity market could stage a medium-term rebound after prolonged market correction since beginning of the...

Roger Xie

US: Trump's Record Card on Trade Mixed; China Trade Already Challenging Biden

The US bilateral trade deficit with China declined in 2019 & Jan-Oct 20, but rose in the 3 post-election months. Focus is turning to transshipment...

Prasenjit K. Basu

EM Remains Global Leadership -- Remain Overweight

Price and RS uptrends for the MSCI EM index continues to underpin our bullish outlook for emerging market equities -- remain overweight.

Vermilion Research

China Asset Management: Record-High AUM and User Growth, Set to Expand Further in 2021

China Asset Management industry has record year in 2020, with AUM approaching RMB 20 trillion, a 35% year-over-year growth. They will account 10%...

Roger Xie

Is This The Greatest Bubble of All Time?

P/Es are a misleading and wrong way to value aggregate stock markets. What works at the individual security level does not work well in aggregate....

Michael J. Howell