Overseas investors getting to grips with China’s A-share market show navigational tendencies similar to self-driving cars. “Obstacle avoidance” appears the overriding priority guiding foreign funds nearly three months after A-shares were included in the benchmark emerging markets’ index for the first time.
Financial stocks might — ostensibly — seem interesting, given China has some of the world’s biggest banks and insurance companies. But no, there are all kinds of concerns over shadow finance and deleveraging in the Chinese economy, so best steer clear.
Telecoms companies, surely, are attractive in a country where 788m people use their phones to surf the internet? But no, companies such as China Mobile are not growing as fast as they once did — and anyway many funds already own them offshore.