From the editor
Check the small print
We've warned here several times against investing in China. Like many others we are concerned about the sustainability of Chinese growth and the possibilities of bubbles developing and bursting across the country. But our main concern is simply that the market is expensive. Buy in and you're paying a heavy premium for a lot of risk. Forced to invest our own money now, I think most of us here would stick with cheaper developed markets.
But, if you're a fund investor, it turns out that is easier said than done: there's a strong chance that by investing in, say, Europe, you are investing in China whether you want to or not. Put your money into Neptune's European Opportunities Fund, for example, says Andrew Ellson in The Times, and 6% of your money goes to China and Taiwan. And in total, 20% of your money is invested outside Europe (another 9% or so is in America).
Neptune isn't the only fund manager investing in unexpected places. Fidelity's European Opportunities Fund has around 27% of its assets invested outside the European equity markets and Investec Europe has 19.5%. Amazed? Perhaps you should be.
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Check the small print
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