An on-and-off trade dispute between the U.S. and China is a major challenge for portfolio managers. Thomas Schaffner tells finews.ch-TV why he is still betting on Chinese equities – despite the risk.
A trade war between superpowers U.S. and China is one of the biggest dangers for the global economy: China's equity markets tumbled and U.S. economic indicators tanked amid a trade war unleashed by President Donald Trump.
The trade spat means headwinds for investors liker Thomas Schaffner, a senior Vontobel portfolio manager and Asia and China fund specialist. «Both sides are suffering on the back of the trade war», Schaffner told finews.ch-TV.
China's economic influence on developing markets is enormous. «Emerging markets cannot perform when China is suffering», Schaffner said. Nevertheless, he remains favorable to Chinese stocks: he expects more favorable corporate results towards mid-year, after a feeble year-end and first quarter.
The reason? The U.S. and China are working to resolve their differences, after banging their heads together: «If China and the U.S. find a resolution, profit growth and revenue of companies could recover quite fast, as there is a lot of pent-up demand in the system», Schaffner, notes.
