The Asia 100

Asia’s Top Money Managers Report Modest Gains, for the Most Part

Asia’s equity markets have been anything but stable lately, with China’s economic slowdown sending shock waves across the continent and around the world, but the region’s largest asset managers — those that appear in the Asia 100, Institutional Investor’s exclusive annual ranking — enjoyed steady if unspectacular growth, for the most part, in the 12 months through March.

Total assets at China Life Asset Management Co., for instance, climbed from $340.7 billion to $347.8 billion. Life Insurance Corp. of India reports its AUM total rose from $253.7 billion to $283.2 billion over the same period, while Australia’s largest manager, Macquarie Asset Management, saw its total advance from $331.4 billion to $337.7 billion.

A dramatic plunge in Chinese stocks and a rare depreciation of its currency have sent the region’s fund managers scrambling. Some see the recent setback as a welcome correction that provides a buying opportunity, while others are standing back until the dust settles. Local players in the region’s smaller markets are anxious to see how China’s slowdown will affect their economies and securities markets.

Eastspring Investments, the Asian asset management arm of U.K. insurer Prudential, is adopting the long view. “We are taking the opportunity of the recent market volatility in China to look for attractive names which might have previously been too expensive,” says Ken Wong, portfolio manager at the Singapore-based firm, which manages $134 billion in assets. He says the firm has found some Chinese shares “trading substantially below intrinsic value.”

Value Partners Group, the Hong Kong–based alternatives and long-only manager, has plenty of reason to feel gun-shy. Its $2.17 billion Classic Fund lost 20 percent of its net asset value in the six weeks ended July 8. But the firm, with $16.5 billion in total assets, sees the slump as a healthy adjustment and remains committed to the mainland market. Value Partners plans to seek a bigger investment quota from Chinese regulators and expects that Beijing will continue with financial reforms that open the door wider to foreign institutions, says chair and co-CIO Cheah Cheng Hye.

“My own guess is we are seeing a big correction that is in the context of a multiyear bull market,” says Cheah. “This multiyear bull market is not sustainable without occasional shakeouts and corrections.”

To view the top money managers in Australia and Japan, click on the country link in the navigation table at right.

To view the leaders in China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, click on Other Asian Countries Rankings.

To view the largest holders of Asian equities by firms domiciled outside the region, click on International Ranking.

For information on how this ranking was compiled, click on Methodology.