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Mike Kerley, Asian income equities portfolio manager, shares his views on the latest developments in Asia and discusses the investment implications from an income point of view.
In recent weeks the world has endured an unprecedented increase in volatility with market moves reminiscent of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. The COVID-19 coronavirus started as an Asian problem with the potential to disrupt supply chains. However, it has now gone global, with draconian measures being implemented across the world to contain its spread and is seriously impacting demand for many goods and services. The fear that the slowdown in consumption could tip the world into recession has prompted central banks to cut interest rates aggressively. But the feeling is that monetary stimulus alone will not be sufficient and that a more progressive fiscal response is needed. The significant rally in government bonds is reflective of both risk aversion and the view that global growth prospects are seriously impaired.
Oil and the energy sector
The turmoil has been exasperated by the significant sell-off in oil prices. The breakdown in talks between Saudi Arabia and Russia has led the former to threaten to increase production, pushing the oil price considerably lower. Although this is positive for consumers in general and countries that are net importers of oil, it has drawn attention to the debt levels in the energy sector, especially in the US. Given currently much lower oil prices, a number of energy companies may no longer be viable. It is no surprise therefore that high yield credit spreads in the US have risen while the increase in volatility has raised concerns in this relatively illiquid sector.
Recovery?
It remains difficult to ascertain the impact of coronavirus on global growth until new levels of infections have peaked. Experts seem to think that the virus will run its course as temperatures rise towards the middle of the year but the impact between now and then is unclear. It is fair to say that the ‘V’- shaped recovery that investors initially expected will not materialise and even a recovery in the second half of 2020 is not a certainty.
The aggressive containment measures undertaken by China appeared to have worked and at the time of writing there is a significant drop in daily new coronavirus cases. A similar trend is also evident in South Korea and without wanting to be complacent it appears that Asia is now over the worst. Additionally, targeted measures to boost recovery together with cuts in interest rates is allowing manufacturing production in some sectors to gradually return to normal. However, movement between countries will remain subdued and the tourism and transportation sectors will struggle for some time to come.
Source: iStock
Expectations and positioning
Although it is difficult to quantify the impact on global growth there are few things that are easier to foresee:
Interest rates will most likely continue to fall and remain low for some time
China appears to have the most flexibility to face the challenges in the months ahead
Market volatility is presenting investment opportunities
Primarily from a valuation viewpoint we remain cautiously optimistic on the outlook for Asian equities. In our view current valuations are attractive versus global markets, in particular following the recent bout of volatility. In the short term, markets await some positive news on the COVID-19 virus as worsening economic data across the globe concerns investors. In addition, policy action by global central banks such as the US Federal Reserve cutting rates twice in the space of two weeks and elections uncertainty will also have the potential to impact investor sentiment, alongside geopolitical tension.