Fidelity China Special Situations plc (LON:FCSS) has published its fact sheet for the period to 31 December 2022.
Portfolio Manager Commentary
Sentiment towards the Chinese equities market was poor over the year due to concerns over the property sector and the continuation of its Zero-COVID policy. Sentiment worsened and many investors reduced their exposures following the 20th Party Congress, which seemed to be overdone. Nonetheless, a faster and earlier-than- anticipated border re-opening plan, which marks the end of Zero COVID policy, has rapidly turned around investor sentiment in China. A shift towards a pro-growth stance by the Chinese authority, which suggested more supportive economic measures, improves the country’s economic outlook.
The peak of new regulatory reforms, particularly in China’s internet space, is now behind us. Chinese authorities have laid out the framework around areas such as anti-monopoly, data protection, data sharing and cross-selling within an online ecosystem. Valuations for many such companies have moved to historical lows and look compelling vs their global peers.
Over the last few months, biopharmaceutical companies embroiled in geopolitical tensions, including WuXi AppTec and Hutchison China MediTech, declined. Challenging market conditions and weak sentiment weighed on Noah Holdings. Nonetheless, the holding in Pony.ai advanced.
Over the 12 months to 31 December 2022, the Trust’s NAV fell by 15.2%, underperforming its reference index, which delivered -12.1% over the same period. The Trust’s share price fell 21.2% over the same period.
Fidelity China Special Situations PLC (LON:FCSS), the UK’s largest China Investment Trust, capitalises on Fidelity’s extensive, locally-based analyst team to find attractive opportunities in a market too big to ignore.
