Our portfolio had a nice start to the year, continuing into April to date. This was despite the same two unresolved major macro-economic issues, namely a US trade deal with China and Brexit, that had a deleterious Q4 effect.
Indeed, these issues have created uncertainty in the markets for the last couple of years. There are recent talks however, indicating that a trade deal with China may be near.
Read MoreThe worst performance of the year award goes to… China!
China’s domestic A-shares were the world’s biggest loser in 2018.
We had fortunately reduced our exposure to China after the last run-up. We now are analyzing the situation and considering putting more chips back on the table, so to speak. Let us explain why:
Read MoreOnce again China has commanded the headlines, this time over the miss-characterized “devaluing” of the yuan renminbi (RMB), the Chinese currency. The currency wasn’t so much directly devalued as it was allowed to more widely de-peg from the US dollar and let market forces play a more direct role in the valuation of the currency. This lead to a weaker currency.
Read MoreChina remains a major topic of discussion, rightly so as the world’s second largest economy (and number one according to purchasing power parity rankings) and projected to take over the top spot within the decade. Although it is such a major economic force -the IMF estimates it will actually be the largest contributor to world GDP growth for 2015
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