Monday February 10, 3:45 PM
TOP FUND MANAGERS UP THEIR ASIAN STOCK HOLDINGS IN JANUARY
By Vasu Menon, Chief Editorial finatiQ
The value of Asian stocks held by the region's 20 biggest fund managers, rose by 8.75% US$188.35 billion at the end of January from to US$173.2 billion at the end of December, according to data recently released by Lipper.
Desptie the threat of a war in Iraq and short term uncertainties about the US economy, top fund managers appear to optimistic about medium to long term prospects.
The region's five largest fund managers at the end of January were Nomura Holdings (US$22.9 billion), Capital Group (US$22.2 billion), Fidelity Investment (US$20 billion), Franklin Advisers (US$14.5 billion) and Credit Suisse Group (US$11.5 billion) in that order.
In terms of country holdings, Japan took the top spot (US$131.7 billion), followed by South Korea (US$33.8 billion), Australia (US$27.2 billion), Hong Kong (US$23.8 billion) and Taiwan (US$18.9 billion).
South Korea stood out from the pack once again. Despite tension in the Korean peninsula, funds invested in the country posted an increase of 0.7% to US$33.8 billion at the end of January, up from US$33.5 billion at the end of December.
The other major Asian market which saw an increase was Australia which rose by 0.1% to US$27.2 billion.
Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan posted declines.
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