Translated from a Chinese-language piece in Sinafiance
CHINA'S "LADY BUFFETT," who during the day goes by her given name -- Liu Yang -- is the chairperson of Atlantis Investment Management (HK).
She hasn’t been in the headlines much lately.
But the investment guru has been making quite a few waves – and money – in the Hong Kong stock market.
In short, she has been a big buyer of three sector stocks of late: telecommunications, petrochemicals and Mainland China-based banks.
Reports have it that she is doing well with these bets.
But more importantly, “China’s Lady Buffett” is very sanguine on prospects for Hong Kong’s stock market in 2012.
During a recent media interview, she said she was confident that the high-flying PRC economy is destined for a soft landing and the producer of the world’s No.2 GDP will once again become a major focal point of investors.
But why take “Lady Buffett’s word for it?
In fact, the enterprises within Atlantis Investment Management’s portfolio have all been pointing to the same hypothesis thanks to their generally strong performance.
But Ms. Liu is no Pollyanna and was not going to go out on a limb and say Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index can continue its strong year-to-date run, unchecked.
She said that in the short term, there will certainly be some bumps in the road, but the long-term trend for this year for the Index will be marked by gradual ascent.
“In my experience, when the Hong Kong bourse accumulates an increase of 3,000 to 4,000 points, most participants experience both exuberance and fatigue and may want to take a bit of a vacation. This usually means a correction is imminent,” Ms. Liu said.
She spoke frankly on the state of sentiment in the market, saying that many investors with heavy exposure to H-shares (PRC-based firms listed in Hong Kong) are generally taking a wait-and-see position on whether or not the upcoming leadership transition in Mainland China will continue with current economy-friendly policies, or take new approaches to maintain growth.
She said her firm was focusing on the blue chip “known entities” in the PRC.
“Telecom, petroleum and petrochemicals as well as Mainland lenders... I am continuously accumulating in all of these areas because I feel they have the most potential and are most suitable for my needs,” Ms. Liu said.
Since the beginning of the year, her Atlantis Investment Management has been one of the better players in the investing community, producing a respectable 10.3% return on investment year-to-date.
But she said this was still unsatisfactory as it is still behind the rate of rise for the Hang Seng Index over the same timeframe.
She said that things were definitely better than last year, when her fund fell some 30% on a series of external shocks.
“Confidence is often a mixture of both on-the-ground reality and emotion,” she added.
If Ms. Liu’s predictions on the Hong Kong market’s performance this year play out, and if her fund continues to stay ahead of the curve, then we may be hearing a lot more in the press and analyst circles about the decisions and performance of “China’s Lady Buffett.”
See also:
'CHINA’S LADY BUFFETT' Dumps 12 Stocks... Sign Of The Times?
Two Different Drivers In Hong Kong’s Ongoing Mini-Bull
ALEX WONG: Don’t Let Gyrations Make Gamblers Of Us
