For those considering making an investment in Asia, there are many different options. According to Nitin Bajaj, portfolio manager of the Fidelity Asian Values Investment Trust, “There are over 17,000 investible companies across Asia – which is a lot of companies to research.” Therefore, when it comes to making an investment choice, he says that “what matters to me for generating long term returns is to buy good businesses, run by capable and trustworthy managers at reasonable prices, when they may have short term cyclical or internal issues.” He adds that he “often look[s] for companies which will be able to thrive in what today may seem like very unfashionable sectors. For instance, child care centres or manufacturing of plastic toys or producing packaging tubes for toothpastes may not seem particularly appealing. But it is in sectors like these that I have found companies that have built deep competitive advantages, are run by able managements, generate a lot of cash and are available at attractive prices.”
Then there is the perspective of potential Asian FDI investors worrying too much about the climate there. According to UBS Wealth Management’s Asia-Pacific investment office’s leader Min Lan Tan, “Asian credits are showing few signs of stress, with spreads at 320 basis points versus the height of over 800 basis points during 2008 and 2009.” Nonetheless, right now Asian equity markets are pretty much stagnant and valuations are getting to crisis levels. It is probable that earnings forecasts will lessen, but even with this, there is prosperity in the mid-single digits along with robust ROE (Return on Equity) ratios. In addition, it is likely that quality income stocks will encounter an improved performance this year, within an environment of a reduced pace of Fed rate hikes and renewed regional central bank focus on policy easing.
If Sir Richard Branson is to be heeded, then the current environment is ripe for investing in Asia. His Virgin Active gym chain is putting £150m ($217.85m) into South East Asia, with the opening of around 30 gyms in the region. Virgin Active’s CEO, Matthew Bucknall, explained:
“The success of our first four clubs in Thailand and Singapore has exceeded our expectations and the time is right to accelerate our expansion plans. The global health and fitness industry is evolving rapidly, with many of the current Asia health club offerings being outdated first-generation, fitness-only formats. Along with opening more of our large premium clubs, we are also looking at new formats.”
As well as this move being beneficial to Virgin, South East Asia’s economy will encounter a hike as with Virgin’s expansions around 2,000 jobs will be created within the next six years.