Silver Point

Thomas J. Monaco

Independent Insight Provider

Silver Point is a boutique research firm that focuses on the broader financial services sector, with a particular focus on troubled institutions globally. 

Asia Ex Japan

Equity Bottom-Up

<p><strong><em>*RBA Speech – A Positive For Aussie BNPL: </em></strong>The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) indicated that the status-quo for the buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) sector is likely to continue into the foreseeable future – which is a significant positive for Tencent Holding’s (700.HK) [Tencent] Afterpay Touch (APT.AU) [Afterpay]. Specifically, BNPL operators can still prevent merchants from passing on transaction fees;</p><p><em><strong>*Strong Momentum As We Head Into Holiday Season: </strong></em>Just as we head into the holiday season, Tencent’s Afterpay provided some strong key metrics in its latest media release as discussed in “Tencent Holdings – Father Christmas” note dated December 3, 2020.  What a magnificent six months this has been for Afterpay, and the next six months look to be even more transformational with operations beginning in the European Union, launches of banking products, and potentially the launch of the business in Asia (likely under the tutelage of Tencent); and</p><p><em><strong>*More Magic Fairy Dust:</strong></em> Tencent continues to hit it out of the park with its Afterpay stake. In addition to a superb return on investment of 400% over the past six months since the stake announcement, this alliance with Australia’s premier financial technology Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) company is paying dividends to Tencent in numerous other ways.</p>

*RBA Speech – A Positive For Aussie BNPL: The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) indicated that the status-quo for the buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) sector is likely to continue into the foreseeable future – which is a significant positive for Tencent Holding’s (700.HK) [Tencent] Afterpay Touch (APT.AU) [Afterpay]. Specifically, BNPL operators can still prevent merchants from passing on transaction fees;*Strong Momentum As We Head Into Holiday Season: Just as we head into the holiday season, Tencent’s Afterpay provided some strong key metrics in its latest media release as discussed in “Tencent Holdings – Father Christmas” note dated December 3, 2020.  What a magnificent six months this has been for Afterpay, and the next six months look to be even more transformational with operations beginning in the European Union, launches of banking products, and potentially the launch of the business in Asia (likely under the tutelage of Tencent); and*More Magic Fairy Dust: Tencent continues to hit it out of the park with its Afterpay stake. In addition to a superb return on investment of 400% over the past six months since the stake announcement, this alliance with Australia’s premier financial technology Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) company is paying dividends to Tencent in numerous other ways.

<p><strong><em>*Decent Operating Results: </em></strong>Lufax Holdings (LU.US) [Lufax] reported 3Q20 results of CNY 2.2 bn, declining CNY 929 mn (30.1%) on a linked quarter basis. However, when we exclude the CNY 1.3 bn restructuring charge and gains of CNY 144 mn, Lufax’ operating results amounted to CNY 3.3 bn – increasing CNY 228 mn (7.3%) over the same period;  and</p><p><strong><em>*Regulatory Risk Is Prevalant:</em></strong> An evolution of the regulatory environment remains a significant challenge to Lufax, and more likely than not will require further business adjustments and ad pressure to the bottom-line, including: lower interest rate caps;  higher capital requirements; improved risk-taking controls; along with other consumer protection measures. That being said, much of the regulatory uncertainty is more from policy window guidance rather than from new regulations themselves. </p>

*Decent Operating Results: Lufax Holdings (LU.US) [Lufax] reported 3Q20 results of CNY 2.2 bn, declining CNY 929 mn (30.1%) on a linked quarter basis. However, when we exclude the CNY 1.3 bn restructuring charge and gains of CNY 144 mn, Lufax’ operating results amounted to CNY 3.3 bn – increasing CNY 228 mn (7.3%) over the same period;  and*Regulatory Risk Is Prevalant: An evolution of the regulatory environment remains a significant challenge to Lufax, and more likely than not will require further business adjustments and ad pressure to the bottom-line, including: lower interest rate caps;  higher capital requirements; improved risk-taking controls; along with other consumer protection measures. That being said, much of the regulatory uncertainty is more from policy window guidance rather than from new regulations themselves. 

Lufax Holdings – Good Number Right Out Of The Gate

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p><strong><em>*D-SIB Standards Released:</em></strong> The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and China Bank and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) on December 3, 2020 released finalized standards for the country’s domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs), and indicated that tighter regulations will be announced shortly; and</p><p><strong><em>* Aggressive Capital Raises Expected: </em></strong>In our view, the forthcoming regulations are likely to focus on: additional paid-in capital; leverage ratios; risk concentrations; corporate governance; disclosure levels; and mechanism to prevent systemic risk; and internal controls. The idea is to finally strengthen mainland Chinese bank balance sheets and improve their loss absorption capacity. Problem for equity raises is that P/BV must be over 1.0x for the raise and many of the potential D-SIBs are trading below book value. </p>

*D-SIB Standards Released: The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and China Bank and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) on December 3, 2020 released finalized standards for the country’s domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs), and indicated that tighter regulations will be announced shortly; and* Aggressive Capital Raises Expected: In our view, the forthcoming regulations are likely to focus on: additional paid-in capital; leverage ratios; risk concentrations; corporate governance; disclosure levels; and mechanism to prevent systemic risk; and internal controls. The idea is to finally strengthen mainland Chinese bank balance sheets and improve their loss absorption capacity. Problem for equity raises is that P/BV must be over 1.0x for the raise and many of the potential D-SIBs are trading below book value. 

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

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Quantitative Analysis

<div><p>The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.</p></div><div><p>Hong Kong saw shorts rise on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ping-an-insurance-grp-co-of-china-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12880:1" rel="noopener">Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (9988 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent Holdings (700 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-petroleum-chemical-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:369:1" rel="noopener">China Petroleum &amp; Chemical (386 HK)</a> while there was short covering on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/great-wall-motor-co-ltd-cb302af9-398c-4d2d-ba39-023e43287eef" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:128:1" rel="noopener">Great Wall Motor (2333 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kingdee-international-sftwr" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:37:1" rel="noopener">Kingdee International Software (268 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/anta-sports-products-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10261:1" rel="noopener">Anta Sports Products (2020 HK)</a>. Shorts increased in Financials, Communication Services, Health Care and Energy, and decreased on Information Technology names.</p></div><div><p>In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/recruit-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15070:1" rel="noopener">Recruit Holdings (6098 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tokyo-electron-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:280:1" rel="noopener">Tokyo Electron (8035 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sharp-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:391:1" rel="noopener">Sharp Corp (6753 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/capcom-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1459:1" rel="noopener">Capcom Co Ltd (9697 JP)</a> while shorts decreased on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fast-retailing-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:751:1" rel="noopener">Fast Retailing (9983 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kawasaki-heavy-industries" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8790:1" rel="noopener">Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/canon-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1:1" rel="noopener">Canon Inc (7751 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cyberagent-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8197:1" rel="noopener">CyberAgent Inc (4751 JP)</a>. Sectorally, shorts increased on Information Technology names and decreased in the Consumer Discretionary, Materials, Health Care and Financials sectors.</p></div><div><p>In Korea, there was large short covering on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/celltrion-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:991:1" rel="noopener">Celltrion Inc (068270 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsung-electronics-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:191:1" rel="noopener">Samsung Electronics (005930 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsung-sdi-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:503:1" rel="noopener">Samsung SDI (006400 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsung-electro-mechanics-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:539:1" rel="noopener">Samsung Electro Mechanics Co, Ltd. (009150 KS)</a>. </p></div><div><p>Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/au-optronics-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6704:1" rel="noopener">Au Optronics (2409 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/delta-electronics-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12688:1" rel="noopener">Delta Electronics (2308 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/largan-precision-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9126:1" rel="noopener">Largan Precision (3008 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nanya-technology-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3269:1" rel="noopener">Nanya Technology (2408 TT)</a> while shorts were covered on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/taiwan-semiconductor-manufacturing-company" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11230:1" rel="noopener">TSMC (2330 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/taiwan-cement" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19736:1" rel="noopener">Taiwan Cement (1101 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mediatek-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:772:1" rel="noopener">Mediatek Inc (2454 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/macronix-international" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3247:1" rel="noopener">Macronix International (2337 TT)</a>. </p></div>

The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.Hong Kong saw shorts rise on Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK), Alibaba Group (9988 HK), Tencent Holdings (700 HK) and China Petroleum &amp; Chemical (386 HK) while there was short covering on Meituan (3690 HK), Great Wall Motor (2333 HK), Kingdee International Software (268 HK) and Anta Sports Products (2020 HK). Shorts increased in Financials, Communication Services, Health Care and Energy, and decreased on Information Technology names.In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were Recruit Holdings (6098 JP), Tokyo Electron (8035 JP), Sharp Corp (6753 JP) and Capcom Co Ltd (9697 JP) while shorts decreased on Fast Retailing (9983 JP), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012 JP), Canon Inc (7751 JP) and CyberAgent Inc (4751 JP). Sectorally, shorts increased on Information Technology names and decreased in the Consumer Discretionary, Materials, Health Care and Financials sectors.In Korea, there was large short covering on Celltrion Inc (068270 KS), Samsung Electronics (005930 KS), Samsung SDI (006400 KS) and Samsung Electro Mechanics Co, Ltd. (009150 KS). Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were Au Optronics (2409 TT), Delta Electronics (2308 TT), Largan Precision (3008 TT) and Nanya Technology (2408 TT) while shorts were covered on TSMC (2330 TT), Taiwan Cement (1101 TT), Mediatek Inc (2454 TT) and Macronix International (2337 TT). 

Asia Short Interest: Sinopec, Kingdee, Anta, Recruit, Capcom, Sharp, Celltrion, Samsung, Delta, TSMC

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

<div>
<p>The H-Share/A-Share monitor is published every weekend for the data ending the last trading day of the previous week. It includes all H-Share/A-Share pairs where the H-Share has a 90-day average daily value-traded of US$1.0mm or more. It shows basic data per H/A spread stock by sector, with...</p>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>H/A Discount,</li>
<li>movement in H/A Discount over 5 and 20 days,</li>
<li>a 52-week Z-score for the spread,</li>
<li>A chart showing evolution of the H/A spread over the last 20 days,</li>
<li>Southbound shares held (millions of shares), Net Change in Southbound (Shanghai and Shenzhen combined) shares held by millions of shares, and contribution of Net Southbound Volume to HK-traded volume over the past five days and 20 days, </li>
<li>There is also a chart showing the average sector spread and the individual spreads within each sector over the last three years. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<p>A recent addition is the possible status of H/A-share companies in the monitor which are subject to the Trump Executive Order on Chinese Military Companies. They are separated into three types (Possible Direct Qualifying Entity, Possible Indirect Qualifying Entity, and 20+%-owned by Qualifying Entity). They are color-coded as below.</p>
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<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/174/784/original/image?1606541170" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="174784"></figure>
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<p>For more on the list of names, please see <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trump-s-executive-order-on-chinese-military-companies" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:45259" rel="noopener">Trump's Executive Order on Chinese Military Companies</a>. </p>
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<div class="content-highlight">
<p>This past week saw mixed movement in H/A spreads but on average they were narrower.</p>
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<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/174/829/original/Screenshot%202020-11-28%20at%206.25.16%20PM.png?1606559131" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="174829"></figure>
<p></p>
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<p>Average performance of the 39 recommendations (long 27, short 12) from last week was for a profit of 0.67% per trade.</p>
<p>There are 43 recommendations for the upcoming week.</p>
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<hr>
<div>
<p>The first sector discussed is <strong>Consumer</strong>, where liquid H/A spreads narrowed on average 0.6% this past week after narrowing 2.7% the week before. Spreads are now tighter by 2.1% on average over a four-week period. Four of six liquid Hs outperformed their As.</p>
<p>Southbound accounts were large-ish net buyers on the week. There were three net buys and three net sells but the net buying ended up being all <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>, again. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/guangzhou-automobile-group-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11082:1" rel="noopener">Guangzhou Automobile Group (2238 HK)</a> saw significant net selling. </p>
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<div class="content-highlight">
<p>Last week I recommended staying long the H vs A on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/great-wall-motor-co-ltd-cb302af9-398c-4d2d-ba39-023e43287eef" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:128:1" rel="noopener">Great Wall Motor (2333 HK)</a> and that spread gained 1.6% for the week (after gaining 4.7% the week before when it was also recommended). This past week I put out the Weekly late on Monday (after 2pm), when BYD in Hong Kong had gained 3.7% vs the As on the day, and so recommended implementing a short BYD (1211 HK) H vs A share trade and from that point or even from the end of the day or the next, the Hs actually underperformed the As by 0.4%. </p>
<p>See below the fold for this week's recommendations.</p>
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<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/174/809/original/Screenshot%202020-11-28%20at%205.32.56%20PM.png?1606556000" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="174809"></figure>
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<section class="figure">For Energy, Financials &amp; Real Estate, Health Care, Tech, Industrials, Materials, and Utilities, please read on.</section>
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The H-Share/A-Share monitor is published every weekend for the data ending the last trading day of the previous week. It includes all H-Share/A-Share pairs where the H-Share has a 90-day average daily value-traded of US$1.0mm or more. It shows basic data per H/A spread stock by sector, with...



H/A Discount,
movement in H/A Discount over 5 and 20 days,
a 52-week Z-score for the spread,
A chart showing evolution of the H/A spread over the last 20 days,
Southbound shares held (millions of shares), Net Change in Southbound (Shanghai and Shenzhen combined) shares held by millions of shares, and contribution of Net Southbound Volume to HK-traded volume over the past five days and 20 days, 
There is also a chart showing the average sector spread and the individual spreads within each sector over the last three years. 



A recent addition is the possible status of H/A-share companies in the monitor which are subject to the Trump Executive Order on Chinese Military Companies. They are separated into three types (Possible Direct Qualifying Entity, Possible Indirect Qualifying Entity, and 20+%-owned by Qualifying Entity). They are color-coded as below.





For more on the list of names, please see Trump's Executive Order on Chinese Military Companies. 



This past week saw mixed movement in H/A spreads but on average they were narrower.




Average performance of the 39 recommendations (long 27, short 12) from last week was for a profit of 0.67% per trade.
There are 43 recommendations for the upcoming week.



The first sector discussed is Consumer, where liquid H/A spreads narrowed on average 0.6% this past week after narrowing 2.7% the week before. Spreads are now tighter by 2.1% on average over a four-week period. Four of six liquid Hs outperformed their As.
Southbound accounts were large-ish net buyers on the week. There were three net buys and three net sells but the net buying ended up being all BYD (1211 HK), again. Guangzhou Automobile Group (2238 HK) saw significant net selling. 




Last week I recommended staying long the H vs A on Great Wall Motor (2333 HK) and that spread gained 1.6% for the week (after gaining 4.7% the week before when it was also recommended). This past week I put out the Weekly late on Monday (after 2pm), when BYD in Hong Kong had gained 3.7% vs the As on the day, and so recommended implementing a short BYD (1211 HK) H vs A share trade and from that point or even from the end of the day or the next, the Hs actually underperformed the As by 0.4%. 
See below the fold for this week's recommendations.











For Energy, Financials &amp; Real Estate, Health Care, Tech, Industrials, Materials, and Utilities, please read on.


Quiddity Weekly H/​​A: Share Spread Monitor as of 27 Nov 2020

China

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Limited provides a variety of insurance service in China.  The Company writes property, casualty, and life insurance.  Ping An Insurance also offers financial services.

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

Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK)

Tencent Holdings – After The Speech

TENCENT HOLDINGS: Reserve Bank of Australia indicated that the status-quo for BNPL is likely to continue – which is a significant positive for...

Thomas J. Monaco

Lufax Holdings – Good Number Right Out Of The Gate

LUFAX HOLDINGS: Lufax operating results were solid. However, the regulatory environment remains a significant challenge.

Thomas J. Monaco

China Banks – About Time

CHINA BANKS: PBOC and CBIRC Released Finalized D-SIB Standards and Indicated Tighter Regulations. Aggressive Capital Raises Are Expected.

Thomas J. Monaco

Asia Short Interest: Sinopec, Kingdee, Anta, Recruit, Capcom, Sharp, Celltrion, Samsung, Delta, TSMC

The Short Interest report looks at large weekly movements across HK, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Ping An saw a huge increase in shorts while TSMC saw...

Brian Freitas

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Tencent Holdings – After The Speech

TENCENT HOLDINGS: Reserve Bank of Australia indicated that the status-quo for BNPL is likely to continue – which is a significant positive for...

Thomas J. Monaco

Lufax Holdings – Good Number Right Out Of The Gate

LUFAX HOLDINGS: Lufax operating results were solid. However, the regulatory environment remains a significant challenge.

Thomas J. Monaco

China Banks – About Time

CHINA BANKS: PBOC and CBIRC Released Finalized D-SIB Standards and Indicated Tighter Regulations. Aggressive Capital Raises Are Expected.

Thomas J. Monaco

Asia Short Interest: Sinopec, Kingdee, Anta, Recruit, Capcom, Sharp, Celltrion, Samsung, Delta, TSMC

The Short Interest report looks at large weekly movements across HK, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Ping An saw a huge increase in shorts while TSMC saw...

Brian Freitas

Quiddity Weekly H/​​A: Share Spread Monitor as of 27 Nov 2020

The weekly H/A Share Monitor and Trade Recommendations. Spreads narrower on the week. Last week's 39 trade recommendations gained 0.67% on average....

Travis Lundy

Quiddity Weekly H/A: Share Spread Monitor as of 27 Nov 2020