Even as slowdown fears deepen and markets show extreme signs of volatility, a top Asian fund manager is advising equity investors to hang on and “buy” rather than “sell”. A Bloomberg report quoted Joanna Kwok, who co-
manages the JPMorgan Asia Growth Fund, as saying that investors should hold on as valuations suggest “decent” returns in the next 12 months.
She said Asian markets will continue to be volatile due to trade war uncertainty and corporate earnings concerns, but investors should not cash out in this situation. “You just need to be continuously disciplined,” Kwok told Bloomberg. “At this valuation, we should be buying not selling.”
“While risk-off sentiment still dominates Asia markets, flows are resuming from North America and Europe as valuations become attractive,” added Kwok.
Kwok’s JPMorgan Asia Growth Fund tracks the MSCI Asia excluding Japan Index and has returned 11% year-to-date. The open-end fund has beaten 98% of peers so far this year and for the past five years, based on data compiled by Bloomberg.
Kwok in fact added that market declines over the past few months have enabled her to buy back some technology and Indian financial equities, according to the Bloomberg report. Adding weight to her optimism is the fact that Kwok remains almost fully invested, with a net cash level of just about 2%.
Kwok said she preferred regional growth stocks that are more domestically focused in financial, technology and consumption-related businesses from a long-term perspective. With regards to Indian markets, she said that central bank accommodative measures would be more effective in buoying sentiment if coupled with fiscal policies, which is currently happening in India.
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