中國最大的股票基金受傷 - 茅台報銷1,110億美元

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Business

China’s Top Stock Funds Trashed by $111 Billion Moutai Wipeout

Sofia Horta e Costa

Bloomberg Wed., March 3, 2021, 10:39 p.m.

 (Bloomberg) -- The most popular stock trade in China is unraveling, tarnishing the reputations of some of the country’s most successful money managers and undermining the outlook for the world’s second-largest equity market.

Until three weeks ago, buying the nation’s beloved liquor maker Kweichow Moutai Co. was a surefire way for the $3 trillion mutual fund industry to mint money and attract bumper inflows. The stock soared 30% year-to-date through its Feb. 10 record, after gaining almost 70% in 2020 -- and doubling in the year before that.

Many funds, flush with a record amount of cash, didn’t have a choice if they wanted to keep their clients and attract new investors. Buying Moutai was the simplest and most effective way to top rankings -- until it wasn’t. The stock began tumbling after the Lunar New Year break, and kept falling. It’s now down 22% since its peak, including a drop of as much as 6% Thursday, and has lost more than $111 billion in value.

 One of the most high-profile casualties is E Fund Management Co.’s Zhang Kun, the first in China to oversee 100 billion yuan ($15 billion). Zhang’s E Fund Blue Chip Selected Mixed Fund is down 12% in 10 trading days after returning 95% last year largely due to a big bet on baijiu, the Chinese white spirit. The fund had 9.6% of its assets invested in Moutai as of December. Another fund run by Zhang has lost 23%. Zhang didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

The fund manager has received “verbal abuse” in recent weeks by investors who were previously fans, according to a report Wednesday in China’s state tabloid Global Times. He was known as “Prince Charming” or “Brother Kun” among his investors, who now refer to him on social media as “Kun Gou” or “Kun the dog” -- an offensive term in Chinese.

Other copycat money managers will be feeling the pain: recent data showed two-thirds of mutual fund assets were invested in only 100 stocks, while the top 400 stocks lured 93% of total funds. Although China’s onshore market contains more than 4,000 stocks, Moutai is by far the largest with a market value of about $390 billion.

 Moutai accounts for 27% of the loss in the FTSE China A50 Index of the nation’s largest companies since Feb. 10. When added together with fellow spirit makers Wuliangye Yibin Co. and Luzhou Laojiao Co., the three comprise more than half of the gauge’s decline.

 Concern had been growing about the stretched valuations of Moutai and its peers, especially as gains accelerated. A gauge tracking consumer staples, including liquor makers, traded at a record 36 times projected 12-month earnings in February.

To be sure, the company’s shares have faced plenty of risks in the past. The stock tumbled about 8% in a single day in July after the People’s Daily criticized the high price of the company’s liquor. In 2017, Xinhua News Agency said the stock was rising too fast, triggering a selloff. Back in 2013, the stock plunged when Xi Jinping came to power and clamped down on lavish spending by party cadres.

 But this time around, authorities have grown increasingly concerned about risks to the financial system posed by excess liquidity. On Tuesday, China’s top banking regulator jolted markets with a warning about the need to reduce leverage amid the rising risk of bubbles globally and in the local property sector. With Moutai being the best-known proxy for liquidity-fueled bets and momentum, fund managers will likely need to find a new strategy to protect their returns.

Translation

（彭博社）- 最受歡迎的中國股票交易正在解体，損害了該國一些最成功的理財公司的聲譽，並破壞了成為全球第二大股票市場的前景希望。

直到三週前，購買國家最受歡迎的白酒生產商貴州茅台公司（Kweichow Moutai Co.），是確保3萬億美元互惠基金行業賺錢和吸引大筆資金流入的成功之路。截至2月10日，該股今年迄今已飆升30％，此前在2020年上漲了近70％ - 並在此之前的一年翻了一番。

許多持有創紀錄現金的基金，如果想保留客戶並吸引新的投資者，就別無選擇。買茅台酒是獲得最高排名的最簡單，最有效的方法 - 直到出現改变為止。農曆新年後，其股票開始向下，並持續下跌。由最高峰值，該指數已下跌22％，其中包括週四下跌6％，其市值縮水超過1,110億美元。

最引人注目受損傷之一的個人是易方達基金管理公司的张坤，他是中國第一位管理著1000億元人民幣（合共150億美元）的人。張氏的易方达蓝筹精选混合基金, 在去年回報95％之後的10個交易日中下跌了12％，這主要是由於對白酒, 中國的白酒作大額下注。截至去年12月，該基金已將其資產的9.6％投資於茅台。張經營的另一隻基金損失了23％。張沒有立即回復置評請求。

根據中國國家小報《環球時報》週三的報導，該基金經理近幾週受到以前曾是粉絲的投資者的“言語虐待”。在他的投資者中，他曾被稱為“白馬王子”或“坤兄弟”，現在在社交媒體上被稱為“坤狗”或“張坤狗”- 在中國是一個冒犯性的名詞。

其他模仿做法的基金經理也會感到傷痛：最近的數據顯示，三分之二的互惠基金資產僅投資於100隻股票，而前400隻股票吸引了總基金的93％。儘管中國的在岸市場有4000多種股票，但茅台酒目前是最大的市場，市值約為3900億美元。

自2月10日以來，在FTSE中國A50指數中最大的公司中，貴州茅台導致其中27％的跌幅。與其他烈酒生產商五糧液宜賓公司和瀘州老窖公司一起，這三者佔該指標的一半以上的跌幅。

人們對茅台酒及其同業估值過高的擔憂日益增加，尤其是隨著收益加速增長。消費必需品指標追踪, 包括酒類生產商在內，交易價為創紀錄的36倍，是推算2月份的12個月收益。

可以肯定的是，該公司的股票過去曾面臨大量風險。在《人民日報》批評該公司烈酒的高價之後，該股在7月的一天裡暴跌了8％。新華社在2017年表示，該股上漲過快，引發拋售。早在2013年，當習近平上台並壓制黨的干部的揮霍無度時，股價暴跌。

但是這次，當局越來越擔心流動性過剩對金融系統造成的風險。週二，中國最高銀行業監管機構發出警告，警告稱由於全球和當地房地產泡沫風險上升，有必要降低杠桿率。隨著茅台成為最著名由流動金推動的押注, 和推動力的計算代表值價，基金經理可能將需要尋找一種新的策略來保護其收益。

It is interesting to know that recent data showed that two-thirds of mutual fund assets were invested in only 100 stocks, while the top 400 stocks lured 93% of total funds. Although China’s onshore market contains more than 4,000 stocks, Moutai is by far the largest with a market value of about $390 billion. I think it could take some time for the mutual fund market to mature. Before that, many investors could become the prey of adventurers and fortune hunters in the financial markets.