Chinese stocks attractive but investment managers cautious before US election

NEW YORK – Asset managers of public and private funds believe that certain Chinese stocks are trading at attractive prices, but they are not buying just yet because of uncertainty around the upcoming US elections, an investment adviser said.

Christopher Ailman, the former chief investment officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), said China was the focus of a regular discussion that he moderated last week for more than a dozen money managers at the 300 Club, which describes itself on its website as a group of leading investment professionals who aim to raise awareness about current investment issues.

The group consists of representatives from global investment funds such as French asset manager Amundi, which manages 2.16 trillion euros and the Canada Pension Plan, which manages USD 632.3 billion.

A representative for the group said he had nothing further to add when reached for comment.

Although the conversation was intended to be about the risks that investors face if tensions between Israel and Iran worsened, Ailman said the dialogue quickly turned when investors realized that Iran’s oil exports are mostly consumed by China.

“When you think about geopolitical risks as an investor, China is at the forefront of your mind,” said Ailman, who retired from the USD 347-billion CalSTRS fund at the end of June. “Everything almost links back to China.”

Ailman said money managers on the call agreed that the prices of certain Chinese stocks looked attractive from the technical and fundamental perspectives, but no one indicated they were increasing their Chinese investments.

“No one wants to go rushing in before the US election,” said Ailman, who is the chairman of the North American chapter of the 300 Club. He did not say which were the Chinese stocks that investors found attractive.

Due to heightened Sino-US political tensions and China’s cooling economy, Ailman said many asset managers have reduced their Chinese investments or eliminated them altogether, adding that US and Canadian funds were particularly “gun shy” about investing in China right now.

But given that Chinese investments do not usually account for more than 5% of the portfolios of North American funds, he said asset managers’ analysis of Chinese equities was not as important as their views on real estate or the valuations of US technology stocks.

China’s stock market has been on a roller-coaster ride, soaring more than 20% since a slew of policy announcements on Sept. 24 fanned expectations that the Chinese government was unveiling a major rescue effort to revive the ailing economy.

Market euphoria about a large stimulus effort has petered out, though some analysts hoped that stock market gains will give way to a more steady — and sustainable — rebound.

(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing)