UBS (Lux) EF China Oppo(USD) P USD acc

Analyst Report
Morningstar's Take
|19/05/2023

by Claire Liang
UBS (Lux) Equity Fund China Opportunity’s seasoned lead manager and time-tested investment approach make it an appealing choice for investors seeking China equity exposure. We reiterate the strategy’s Above Average People and Process ratings, resulting in the Morningstar Medalist Rating of Bronze across its share classes.

Lead manager Bin Shi brings 29 years of investment experience and has led this strategy since it was restructured in July 2010. We think he is a well-established and savvy China equity manager, having successfully identified several winners in their early stages and built commendable long-term track records on most of his strategies. Shi is backed by a dedicated team of nine, which has seen heightened personnel turnover in recent years. After losing three analysts in 2021, the team lost its China onshore portfolio manager and liquor and auto analyst Zizheng Wang in April 2023. While it is not ideal to see the team lose another senior member, we take comfort that the team has promptly replaced Wang with an experienced hire and has strengthened its resources by adding two junior analysts. Nonetheless, it will take time for a new team dynamic to form given the extent of team changes in the recent years, and we are paying close attention to the team’s stability and development.

The benchmark-unconstrained, buy-and-hold approach has been consistently applied and stands the test of time. Shi focuses on investing in current and future industry leaders with sustained competitive advantages and strong profitability that he believes can benefit from China’s structural growth trend. As such, the portfolio has been centered around new economy sectors such as consumers, internet, healthcare, and insurance. That said, Shi has added to select banks and real estate names since 2021, as he saw some structural growth opportunities and attractive valuations. The portfolio’s quality metrics, such as return on equity and net margin have also been well above the MSCI China 10/40 Index over the years. We note that the strategy continued to see net outflows of around USD 1 billion in 2022, and its liquidity profile has worsened over the past year, mainly driving by tightened market liquidity. We haven’t seen the persistent redemption cause any meaningful changes to the portfolio’s shape, but we are keeping an eye on the portfolio’s liquidity profile.

The strategy has delivered stellar outperformance for investors over Shi’s tenure. Its relative performance rebounded in 2022 after a dismal showing in 2021, thanks to the manager’s solid stock picks in healthcare and real estate as well as an underweight position in information technology.
 
Morningstar Medalist Rating™A compelling China equity offering, though the strategy’s team stability and liquidity remain watch points.
To find out how Morningstar rates a fund click here.
Morningstar Pillars
PeopleAbove Average
ParentAverage
ProcessAbove Average
 
Morningstar Medalist RatingMorningstar assigns the Medalist Rating to funds that are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed through manager research and algorithmic processes. The assessment turns on three key “pillars” – People, Process, and Parent – that yield an estimate of how well a fund will perform before fees but after adjusting for risk.
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