Hong Kong – East West Markets

Canadian-Hong Kong Promo

North America will be host to a promotion event for Hong Kong. ‘Think Asia, Think Hong Kong,’ will be held in Canada on June 8 and Chicago on June 10 is being organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) in order to promote the region as an attractive environment for foreign investments.

It is anticipated that the two events will attract over 3,000 participants in total. At the event it is hoped that “a unique environment” will be created for Hong Kong businesses to promote their “service excellence to a targeted audience in North America,” according to Margaret Fong, Executive Director at HKTDC. As well, businessmen from the North American region will gain “a fresh perspective” on the benefits of bringing business to Hong Kong.

The event is being supported by over 80 supporting organizations in America and Canada as well as 16 Hong Kong partners.

However, in March trade balance in Hong Kong had an unexpected drop according to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. But still, according to Edith Yeung, an investor who came from the world of entrepreneurship, businessmen and women in Hong Kong should look at China – as opposed to Europe or America – for market expansion.

Best Countries for Business

Japan Versus UK

In a recent report by Bloomberg, Japan was ranked higher than the UK vis-à-vis the regions that are best to do business with. In this report it escalated four places, stealing the third spot, with only America and Hong Kong ahead of it. For measuring purposes, the review utilized six criteria. Two of these were: the extent of economic integration; preparedness of the local consumer base.

Perhaps another reason for Japan’s escalation in this review has something to do with its 14 percent drop in the yen against the dollar over the last year. This has increased its competitiveness in the export market.

However, Japan’s trade deficit for last year was extremely high with a substantial decrease in exports to China and Europe. Its exports have been plummeting for the last seven months with a drop in shipments of almost 6 percent in December 2012. Some analysts believe the deficit may have reached its nadir, given the expectation of an improvement in exports over the next few months. Once that happens – along with the general upswing in the world economy – there is a strong likelihood that the country’s trade deficit will shrink alongside it. This does not mean it will go into surplus in 2013 but at least it will be going in the right direction. One also has to take into consideration the escalation in the price of oil import. As well, given that Europe is still trying to deal with its debt, the region is less interested in Japanese exports.

Hong Kong Based Hedge Funds Show Positive Outcome in 2012

Oasis Management Hong Kong, along with many other Asia-based hedge fund managers, are generally pleased with the rewards which were reaped during the past year. Analysts were able to conclude that despite some of the risks endured over the course of 2012, the final outcome was of a positive nature.

Observers noted that all of the strategic mandates came out ahead in December with the best hedge funds in the multi-strategy category, posting gains of 2.37 percent for the month and 8.55 percent for the year.

Hedge funds finished the year on a positive note in general, with all regions showing in-the-black returns in December, and Asian funds outperforming other regions.

A recent AsiaHedge report showed that total assets in hedge funds in the Asia-Pacific region amounted to $144 billion as of June 2012. This is approaching the peak seen in December 2007 of $192 billion before the tough year for hedge funds of 2008.

Asia’s High End Art Market

Hong Kong has been instrumental in boosting Asia’s art market over the last few years, especially with its 300 percent increase between 2009-10. This is thanks to the wealthy Chinese who have been enthusiastically purchasing art, resulting in Hong Kong becoming a global art sales center. It seems like art and other alternative investment options – such as wine – have in general been on the rise irrespective of global financial misfortunes such as the collapse of Lehman Brothers three years ago.

Asia’s Rich Getting Richer

It seems that the wealthy individuals in the Asia region are just increasing their financial worth. For example, the region is even beating Europe, standing at $10.7tr., whereas Europe is only up to $10.2tr. Art investment definitely has a lot going for it, being a little different, enjoyable and having pretty good returns. As well what is also good news for Asia is that vis-à-vis the art market, it has not been impacted by the Euro Zone debt crisis. Indeed, the Mei Moses Global Art Index found almost a 12 percent increase in 2011 to November.

One art consultant, Bobby Mohseni, noted, “it may not be a good time for sellers but it's an excellent time for buyers. During late 2008 and 2009, I highly advised clients to buy. With Chinese contemporary art, some prices have gone exceptionally high and that's just over a decade … so it's best to look at upcoming or mid-tier artists.”

In addition, confidence in China’s contemporary art market remains quite high, even though the same confidence is lacking in the European and American counter markets. In other words, Asia does not have to feel the negative impact of what is going on in the western world – as has been seen through its art market.

Oasis Management Hong Kong: Making Comeback with Other Asia Hedge Funds

The Hong Kong hedge fund sector has been seeing a steady improvement in business as more and more proprietary traders are choosing to move their funds from banks to Hong Kong based hedge funds. This is a sign, say observers, that the industry has turned a corner, boosted by a recent Securities and Futures Commission report that points out that the industry is making a nice comeback in recent weeks.

Following a slow-down and shrinkage of the hedge fund marketplace in 2008 analysts now see a sharp rise in funds flowing from banks to hedge funds in addition to an uptick in the number of international hedge fund managers who are setting up their offices in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia.

A yearly report, the Hong Kong hedge fund survey, which is published by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) shows clearly that AUM (assets under management) are moving upward. In September 2010 hedge fund assets in Hong Kong were valued at $63.2 billion, a substantial increase from March 2009 when assets in hedge funds reached only $55.3 billion.

“We think it is genuine growth. 2008-09 was a difficult period for the Asian hedge fund industry,” said Giselle Lee, executive director at Man Investments in Hong Kong.

“The industry is now in a growth phase evidenced by two things. Firstly, lots of proprietary traders from investment banks. Some banks have eliminated these desks or they have shrunk dramatically, so lots of prop traders have set up their own shops. And lots of global funds which run Asian books have decided to open an Asian office,” explained Lee.