In 2022, ‘booking for vaccination’ and ‘mandatory testing’ were among the most popular Google searches in Hong Kong. This is not new. In fact, ‘Masks’ and ‘Zoom’ were the most searched terms among Hong Kong netizens at the early stage of the COVID outbreak. But what about popular terms in investing?
Unlike last year, when people wanted to know what was going on with GME and AMC, this year amid bloodshed in the capital markets across the globe, none of the trending finance topics are about stocks. Instead, novel investment vehicles are a star. Non-fungible tokens or ‘NFT’ and an NFT online platform ‘OpenSea’ were trending. Searches also abound for the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange ‘FTX’ and the digital currency ‘LUNA’. The latter also suffered a total collapse in value. For traditional investments, regular income seems to the theme of choice, with ‘green bond’, ‘silver bond’, and ‘time deposit’ at the top.
Morningstar’s associate director of manager research Bryan Cheung says many investors were “caught off guard with how rapidly assets can be re-priced” amid a new regime of higher inflation and tighter liquidity, both of which have been absent in the past decade or so. Under this tough market environment, he observes that not only were unprofitable, high-growth companies battered, but also high quality, mega-cap technology companies that, “easily retreated by 30% or more from peak to trough.”
We decided to show you the most frequently viewed securities – stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – on the hk.Morningstar.com site for the year. Here’s what we found.
10 Most Popular Stocks in Hong Kong
In 2022, did Hong Kong investors looked up well-known, mega-cap names like Tencent and Alibaba? Yes and no. The two tech giants ranked the third and sixth most popular stock searched on our website in 2022. On the top is a US$ 2 billion property manager, no-moat A-Living Smart City Services (03319), the property management arm under Agile Group (03383). Investors also considered international stocks, with US tech stocks, Apple Inc and Tesla Inc, being hot favorites.
10 Most Popular ETFs in Hong Kong
Unsurprisingly, the city’s oldest ETF, Tracker Fund (02800) was the most viewed of all ETFs. The US$16 billion ETF tracks the Hang Seng Index, and comprises a total of 66 companies. It is followed by an ETF managed by Global X which mimics the Hang Seng High Dividend Yield Index. In a year of tough market conditions, China equity ETFs in Hong Kong had small inflows. In the first eleven months, China Equity ETFs and the China Equity – A-Shares Category collected a net of USD1.2 billion and USD44 million, respectively.
10 Most Popular Mutual Funds in Hong Kong
Moderate allocation and US-focused equities topped the list of the most popular mutual funds. Only one China equity fund was on the list, Silver-rated FSSA China Growth. Other than the FSSA product, three other funds on the list have a Morningstar medalist rating. They are JPMorgan Multi Income, BGF Sytematic Glbl Eq Hi Inc, and BGF World Technology.
Looking ahead, Cheung believesinvestors should try to look beyond the near term, adding that, “The brutal market sell-off may seem pessimistic, but also improves return potential. Timing the market is difficult, those who take a long view should perhaps gradually reinforce their portfolios with assets supported by sound fundamentals and more appealing valuations.”
He also advises that having a holistic portfolio approach can be a great starting point, as it can immediately mitigate some of the common biases that could lead to irrational decisions – for example, a panic sale during a market stress, that could potentially derail your long-term financial success.
“A robust portfolio is not just about diversifying away your home bias, but it's also about striking a balance across different asset classes, sectors, style, and also individual holdings, given that it is appropriate for investors’ risk and return expectations and to make sure that a choppy market won't keep investors awake at night,” he adds.
.jpg "Kate Lin")
