Apricus Reviews European, Asian Equity Exposure Amid Chinese Woes

Editorial Staff

30 August 2023

China has been an important buyer of European exports and the Asian giant’s recent economic and financial woes cast a shadow over countries making significant revenues from China.

At Geneva-baseded , an external asset manager, the group said in an August update on its asset allocation strategy that it is considering its overweight stance on European equities in light of concerns about slowing Chinese economic growth. (See an earlier outlook from the firm here.)

Apricus, which is long hedged.

Within equities, Apricus said it has a “very sizeable underweight” stance on US stocks and a “very sizeable” overweight stance on continental Europe. It is overweight Asia, excluding Japan, neutral on Japan and the UK.

The firm is underweight sovereign debt, overweight investment-grade debt in euros and dollars. It is also long of high-yield euro-denominated debt, long of US municipal infrastructure bonds, and long financial credit and Asian bonds.

Apricus concluded with a reference to recent weather patterns and the impact on agricultural commodities.

“Briefly, after the meteorological phenomenon of La Niña ended, El Niño returned, with expected excessive rains in certain regions and drought in others. It is very likely it will put upward pressure on agricultural commodities over the next six to 12 months. The investment committee is looking to capitalise on that view, and at ways to implement that view in our portfolios,” it added.