Macro: Sandcastle economics
Invest wisely in Q3 2024: Discover SaxoStrats' insights on navigating a stable yet fragile global economy.
Chief Investment Strategist
Summary: ChiNext is up 19% this year while the rest of the Chinese equity market is down highlighting that there is a high quality pocket in China that investors should have on the radar. The ChiNext Index comprises of leading technology companies within battery and medical technology including biotechnology. It is a closed market for most investors but luckily a Hong Kong based asset management is offering a Hong Kong listed ETF providing exposure to this interesting market in China.
China has a growth pocket nobody talks about
This year has been a rollercoaster ride for Chinese equities. It all started with blistering growth and strong momentum in Chinese equities before rising US interest rates and inflation talks temporarily ended the trade in technology stocks. While technology stocks came back in the developed equity market Chinese equities went from crisis to crisis, first in housing during the summer months and which is still ongoing, to that of an energy crunch like in Europe as energy prices have galloped higher. But there is one pocket in the Chinese equity market that has defied the negative forces of higher energy prices and housing woes, and that is the ChiNext board on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
ChiNext is up 19% this year highlighting a stunning comeback following a 29% drawdown during the technology correction during February and March. CSI 300, the leading benchmark index of Chinese mainland equities, is down 4% this year, and Hang Seng in Hong Kong is down 6% this year. While ChiNext is the crown jewel in terms of innovation and growth companies within key technology, it has struggled to deliver against Nasdaq 100 which is up 29% this year, and since June 2010, Nasdaq 100 is up 23.2% annualized compared to 13.1% annualized for ChiNext.
ChiNext is closed market for foreign investors
In recent years China has opened up its capital markets making it easier for foreign investors to invest directly in mainland China equities listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, but the ChiNext board is still closed land for most investors due to prohibitive rules. In effect it is only accessible for few foreign institutional investors. Luckily the ETF market is providing an opportunity for retail investors to get access to this market through the CSOP SZSE ChiNext ETF (Saxo ticker is 03147:xhkg) managed by CSOP Asset Management which is a Chinese regulated asset management firm based in Hong Kong with $10bn in asset under management as of December 2020.
The ETF consists of 160 securities with $110mn in assets and tracking the ChiNext Index and a total expense ratio of 1.16%. The ETF uses a combination of a physical representative sampling and a synthetic representative sampling strategy (swaps), which means that the fund is not holding the underlying index 1:1, but tries minimize the tracking error through sampling. This enables the fund to minimize tracking error while getting better liquidity conditions for investors.
The 10 largest positions in the fund constitute 49.3% of the funds market value with Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) being the largest position with 19.1% weight and also the biggest company in our battery equity basket. CATL is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries and is becoming China’s crown jewel within the fast-growing and emerging battery industry which will be transformational and essential to the green transformation including electric vehicles. The ETF also provides exposure to China’s largest financial and stock information provider East Money Information with $1.8bn in revenue and growing 82% over the past year. The ETF also gives exposure to some of the most interesting medical technology and biotechnology companies in China.
The 10 largest holdings in the CSOP SZSE ChiNext ETFThe history of ChiNext and why it will play a major role
ChiNext was first discussed in August 1999 in the CPC Central Committee and the State Council during the height of the dot-com bubble. China was looking at the technological change in the US and especially what was going on with the Nasdaq exchange. In August 2000, China decided that the Shenzhen Stock Exchange should prepare to create a second board which should include innovative companies with key technologies in order to support growth industries. The ChiNext board was inaugurated on 23 October 2009. In 2020, more than 800 companies were listed on the ChiNext Market with the combined market capitalization approaching $1trn.
Disclaimer
The Saxo Bank Group entities each provide execution-only service and access to Analysis permitting a person to view and/or use content available on or via the website. This content is not intended to and does not change or expand on the execution-only service. Such access and use are at all times subject to (i) The Terms of Use; (ii) Full Disclaimer; (iii) The Risk Warning; (iv) the Rules of Engagement and (v) Notices applying to Saxo News & Research and/or its content in addition (where relevant) to the terms governing the use of hyperlinks on the website of a member of the Saxo Bank Group by which access to Saxo News & Research is gained. Such content is therefore provided as no more than information. In particular no advice is intended to be provided or to be relied on as provided nor endorsed by any Saxo Bank Group entity; nor is it to be construed as solicitation or an incentive provided to subscribe for or sell or purchase any financial instrument. All trading or investments you make must be pursuant to your own unprompted and informed self-directed decision. As such no Saxo Bank Group entity will have or be liable for any losses that you may sustain as a result of any investment decision made in reliance on information which is available on Saxo News & Research or as a result of the use of the Saxo News & Research. Orders given and trades effected are deemed intended to be given or effected for the account of the customer with the Saxo Bank Group entity operating in the jurisdiction in which the customer resides and/or with whom the customer opened and maintains his/her trading account. Saxo News & Research does not contain (and should not be construed as containing) financial, investment, tax or trading advice or advice of any sort offered, recommended or endorsed by Saxo Bank Group and should not be construed as a record of our trading prices, or as an offer, incentive or solicitation for the subscription, sale or purchase in any financial instrument. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, would be considered as a marketing communication under relevant laws.
Please read our disclaimers:
- Notification on Non-Independent Investment Research (https://www.home.saxo/legal/niird/notification)
- Full disclaimer (https://www.home.saxo/en-gb/legal/disclaimer/saxo-disclaimer)