① At the Hong Kong Sohn Investor Leaders Conference, global hedge funds focused on opportunities in the Asian market; ② the Japanese market's efforts to reform the management model allowed many institutions to see the opportunity and bluntly stated that it would become a treasure trove for aggressive investors; ③ the Korean market will continue to benefit from the artificial intelligence boom.
Financial Services Association, May 24 (Editor Malan) At the Sohn Annual Hong Kong Investment Leaders Conference this week, 14 global hedge funds introduced their investment ideas to investors and provided professional insights on the development of the Asian market, particularly the Japanese and South Korean stock markets.
Among them, many funds have confirmed the opportunity to exist in the Asian market. Oasis Management's Seth Fischer pointed out that Japan has excellent opportunities for aggressive investors and has always been a problem plaguing the market due to poor management and a lack of accountability on the part of the board of directors.
David Mitchinson, founding partner of London asset management company Zennor, said that the biggest opportunity for the Japanese market is companies that are continuously improving their governance situation, not companies that are already excellent.
However, Japanese companies' efforts to improve capital efficiency and the record rise in Japanese stocks still garnered recognition from most asset management companies. In addition to the Japanese market, hedge funds are also seeing the growing popularity of artificial intelligence as an opportunity for South Korean tech stocks.
Going a little further, according to Aaron Stern of the hedge fund Converium Capital, the best investment opportunities may occur at the company level or when specific assets or regions are in trouble, such as the debt crisis in Europe and Latin America.
Focus list
In terms of investment targets, Eashwar Krishman of Tybourne Capital said that Samsung Electronics' stock price is likely to more than double in the next three years.
He believes that the promotion of artificial intelligence will increase the demand for Samsung Electronics' memory chips, and when mobile phones have more advanced features, they will require larger memory than current phones. The integration of artificial intelligence functions in devices such as smartphones and computers will lead to a rapid increase in demand for DRAM memory.
CloudAlpha Asset Management is optimistic about Korea's Hyundai Electric because artificial intelligence is also driving up demand for power equipment. However, the company's stock price is lower than that of its global peers, so there will definitely be room for growth.
He believes that the target price for the stock is 500,000 won, which is 76% more room than the current 283,000 won. You know, the stock has accumulated a cumulative increase of more than two times since this year.
The Japanese market is receiving more attention from hedge funds. Oasis's Fisher focused on Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, which recently revealed a scandal. Recently, health products caused many consumers to suffer from kidney disease, causing 5 deaths and more than 100 hospitalizations.
Fisher stressed that Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals' current returns and stock prices are not performing well, but if the crisis is properly managed or the company's management is restructured, there is still a chance that its stock price will rise. He also said that if Kobayashi Pharmaceutical is unable to improve itself, Oasis will step in.
Zennor, on the other hand, is optimistic about Transcosmos for human resources and business support services, pointing out that the company's stock price is heavily discounted compared to its peers, but its goals are not ambitious enough. If the company can develop a coherent capital strategy, it can become a better business.
Taro Hirano, president of Japan Catalyst, believes that Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. is worth betting on because it operates many side businesses and has the potential to create more value. The company has a subsidiary that operates the electric vehicle battery bag business and OLED metal masks, as well as a subsidiary focusing on semiconductor third-party photomasks.
He added that Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. recently brought in an influential professor of commerce to the board of directors, which would be a good thing for corporate governance.