Fund giant Fidelity putting 'money to work' in China after rout

[October 06, 2021]  By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - Fund giant Fidelity is putting money back into Chinese stocks and thinks the recent "indiscriminate" selling caused by the debt crisis at property giant Evergrande is presenting opportunities in the country's beaten up bond markets.

Concerns about Evergrande's fate alongside regulatory clampdowns on e-commerce, gaming and paid-for education this year has wiped more than a trillion dollars off China's markets.

"There are companies that have seen good haircuts on their debt that are not justified," Fidelity's global Chief Investment Officer Andrew McCaffery said during a roundtable, adding that some other parts of Asia had also been impacted.

"Lots are starting to present opportunity right now", he said, also describing the selloff as "indiscriminate".

Fidelity's latest figures show it manages around $790 billion worth of assets globally. Regulatory filings, which can have a lag, also show it holds some Evergrande bonds and some belonging to another Chinese property developer, Fantasia, which missed a bond payment earlier this week.

The firm's China Special Situations portfolio manager Dale Nicholls added he was already dipping back into equity markets, where leading tech and e-commerce giants Tencent and Alibaba have lost 40% and 50%, respectively, since February.

"I am putting more money to work here" Nicholls said.

"I think risk-reward (for Chinese stocks) is stacking up quite well here," he explained. "The IT area is probably presenting the most opportunity right now".

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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