Saudi Arabia’s PIF, Michael Burry’s Scion ride the rally in Chinese stocks as they boost stakes in Alibaba and JD.com
- PIF bought 153,500 shares in Alibaba in the first quarter, which increased its stake in the e-commerce giant by 11 per cent
- Singapore state firm Temasek offloaded nearly 356,000 Alibaba shares, reducing its holdings in the e-commerce giant by 4 per cent
Some heavyweight global investors may have timed their purchase of Chinese blue chips to perfection in the first quarter as the stock market gained momentum, while others may have missed out.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Scion Asset Management, managed by Michael Burry of The Big Short fame, increased their holdings of Chinese large caps, while Singapore’s Temasek did the opposite.
PIF scooped up over 153,500 shares of Alibaba Group Holding to bulk up its stake by 11 per cent, one of the biggest additions to its equity portfolio in the January to March quarter, according to its 13F filing on Wednesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Its holdings in two other Chinese American depositary receipts, Pinduoduo and BeiGene, was unchanged from the previous quarter.
“Investors have relinquished the wait-and-watch approach [for Chinese equities] in favour of building exposure on incremental signs of easing and wiped out the underweight allocation from prior months,” Bank of America strategists including Ritesh Samadhiya said in a note on Thursday, citing a survey of 134 regional fund managers who oversee US$301 billion of assets.
