Anthony Bolton, one of the UK’s most experienced fund managers, was at the Three Talk event today on the Bund to launch the Chinese edition of his new book.
Bolton, who used to run Fidelity’s Special Situations Fund, has relocated to Hong Kong and is now running a China fund, mostly made up of Hong Kong-listed private companies.
However, he was happy to give a pretty bullish prediction of where he sees the Shanghai market heading. So far this year, the Shanghai index has fallen around 25%, making it the worst-performing market in the world.
Bolton, however, sees light at the end of the tunnel for those brave enough to dip their toes in.
He said: "In terms of A-shares (Shanghai-listed Chinese companies), I see a market that has been going down for 12 months, where valuations look attractive compared to Hong Kong-listed shares in some sectors and where the cash positions of the companies are high. I want to be optimistic about such a market."
When is the turnaround going to come? "Later this year the Chinese government, which was first to start tightening its policy, may begin to loosen it if it thinks inflation has peaked. That could be the catalyst for the recovery of the A-share market."