Many Chinese public funds that invest in Hong Kong stocks have suffered huge falls in net asset value since the beginning of the year, but some are still betting on a rebound due to China's widening decoupling from US capital markets and a boost in liquidity from China's central bank.
Wind data shows that it's net asset value has plunged more than 40 per cent since January.
It is followed by China Southern Fund Management's CSI Hong Kong Technology ETF, which has seen a dip of almost 26 per cent since the beginning of the year.
The Yinhua Hang Seng China Enterprises IndexChina Enterprises Index Securities Investment Fund from Yinhua Fund Management dropped about 25 per cent over the same timeframe.
All except three of the 37 existing onshore QDII fund schemes that invest solely in the Hong Kong market have seen a reduction in NAV since the start of the year. The average decline is about 17 per cent.
Several onshore mutual funds that are heavily exposed to Hong Kong stocks have also experienced similar declines in value, in addition to QDII funds.
Since January, China Universal Asset Management's Hong Kong Advantage Selected Fund has plunged almost 26 per cent, while the Hong Kong Stock Connect Big Consumption Selected Fund of TruValue Asset Management has fallen almost 21 per cent.
The Hang Seng index dropped 14.3 per cent since the beginning of the year, the worst among major benchmarks in the world, as of December 6, Hong Kong's flagship Hang Seng index had dropped 14.3 per cent. The Hang Seng Tech Index has plunged 32 per cent since January.
Despite the weak market sentiment and the ubiquitous drop in value, Chinese investors have been undeterred.
Likewise, while the E Fund CSI Overseas China Internet 50 Exchange-traded Fund lost two-fifths in NAV, its fund shares had increased by 20.9 bn in the year up to Friday, suggesting solid investor confidence.
Hong Kong stocks have been mixed, presenting funds and investors with an opportunity to buy low instead of suffering an across-the- board correction.
The new coronavirus variant, the hawkish turn of the US Federal Reserve, the economic downturn in China, the squeeze in offshore liquidity and the changing Sino-US relations all contribute to a sell-off in Hong Kong-listed Internet stocks, said Hu Yaosheng, a portfolio manager at TruValue AM.
Hu said there isn't a big systemic risk and quite a number of companies are extremely undervalued.
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