Fortune (March 23)
“Foreign businesses’ direct investment into China last year increased by the lowest amount since the early 1990s, underscoring Beijing’s challenges to spur its economy. It also has to contend with a steadily accelerating outflow of manufacturing as Apple and other American brands begin to position new capacity in countries from India to Southeast Asia to mitigate risks from US-China tensions.”
Tags: 1990s, Accelerating, Apple, Beijing, Brands, Capacity, Challenges, China, Economy, FDI, India, Investment, Manufacturing, Mitigate, Outflow, Risks, U.S.
South China Morning Post (January 29)
At Davos, Chinese Premier Li Qiang provided WEF delegates with an “early and unexpected disclosure… China’s gross domestic product (GDP) had grown by 5.2 per cent in 2023.” This didn’t come across as powerfully convincing evidence that China’s economy is again healthy. Worries remain about China and its economy. “Challenges related to national security, data flows and market barriers still dominate hearts and minds in decision-making.”
Tags: 2023, 5.2%, Challenges, China, Data flows, Davos, Disclosure, Dominate, Economy, GDP, Li Qiang, Market barriers, National security, Premier, WEF, Worries
Washington Post (November 29)
“Henry A. Kissinger, who died on Wednesday at 100, was one of the most consequential statesmen in U.S. history. Though his greatest triumphs occurred a half-century ago, his legacy is complex and contested and contains lessons that should inform Americans facing complicated foreign policy challenges now.”
Tags: 100, Challenges, Complex, Complicated, Consequential, Contested, Died, Foreign policy, History, Kissinger, Legacy, Lessons, Statesmen, Triumphs, U.S.
Institutional Investor (November 7)
Vanguard’s departure from China, after selling its 49% stake in its joint venture to Ant in October, was such big news because it “illustrates the challenges facing foreign asset managers in China, where the opportunities are plentiful, but so are the obstacles.” Other struggling foreign asset managers may choose to utilize the cover of Vanguard’s departure to reduce their own presence in China.
Tags: Ant, Challenges, China, Departure, Foreign asset managers, Joint venture, Obstacles, Opportunities, Presence, Struggling, Vanguard
Irish Times (September 10)
Some are hoping government stimulus will jumpstart the Chinese economy. “The more likely scenario is continued weak growth.” What remains to be seen is “is how quickly the government will shift away from stimulus measures to a faster fundamental overhaul of its growth strategy.” China needs to tackle “more persistent and structural growth challenges,” which have resulted from “an economic strategy that has historically over-relied on real estate, high local debt, inefficient state-owned enterprises, lower-end manufacturing, and domestic consumer internet platforms.”
Tags: Challenges, China, Economy, Government, Growth strategy, Inefficient, Jumpstart, Manufacturing, Overhaul, Persistent, Real estate, State-owned enterprises, Stimulus, Structural, Weak
Reuters (July 6)
Canary Wharf has been no stranger to challenges and now faces a new blow. “HSBC is quitting the financial hub and moving to smaller quarters…. Hybrid working is an existential threat for commercial property.” Canary Wharf’s “pivot to residential and retail may only be a partial salve.”
Tags: Canary Wharf, Challenges, Commercial property, Financial hub, HSBC, Hybrid working, Pivot, Residential, Retail
Financial Times (May 22)
“China ordered a swath of its infrastructure companies to stop buying from US chipmaker Micron” hours after the G7 ended and President Biden spoke of a thaw in relations. China also summoned Japan’s ambassador to protest related issues. This “underscored the big challenges to stabilising US-China relations at the end of a summit in Hiroshima where Biden and other leaders of the advanced economies issued their harshest criticism of Beijing — while also acknowledging the need to co-operate with China.”
Tags: Ambassador, Biden, Challenges, China, Chipmaker, G7, Hiroshima, Japan, Micron, Protest, Relations, Summit, Thaw, U.S.
Institutional Investor (August 29)
“Now that investors can get factor-based funds on the cheap, they’re pushing quants in new directions.” This presents new challenges. “One is a move away from a heavy reliance on decades of historical data and back tests to tying this in-depth research to the realities of the current economic and market environment.” Another challenge is “getting the right people” to do this. “Many quant managers historically hired people with expertise in data,” but “now it’s the background in economics and finance that’s become critical.”
Tags: Back tests, Challenges, Cheap, Data, Economic, Economics, Factor-based funds, Finance, Historical data, Investors, Managers, Market, Quants, Realities, Reliance, Research
Institutional Investor (May 25)
“Managers that want to run fixed-income funds with a focus on environmental, social, and governance factors face larger research challenges than those in stocks. But the massive opportunity in bonds may make the uphill battle worth it.” Compared to equities, the “patchwork of standards” increases the “risks of ESG fixed income funds.”
Tags: Bonds, Challenges, Equities, ESG, Fixed income, Funds, Managers, Opportunity, Patchwork, Research, Risks, Standards, Stocks, Uphill
Chicago Tribune (December 27)
“But a new year is upon us. Let us allow a sliver of optimism to carry us into 2021, a year that deserves its own chance — and perspective. Because whatever challenges it has in store, this moment in history can still be embraced as a best time to be alive.”
Tags: 2021, Challenges, Chance, Embraced, History, Optimism, Perspective
