Asia’s perennially top-voted Christopher Wood says that he maintains an overweight view on Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and will into 2013, indicating that the region continues to outpace its poor-performing western peers. His top pick is the Philippines.
“The Philippines in the last two or three years is an improving macro story, not just the structural but also the cyclical,” the CLSA strategist says, speaking to Asiamoney from his business trip in Jakarta. “I would anticipate it to get a credit upgrade soon.”
Wood thinks that the greatest threat to the Asia’s equity markets that investors should keep a look out for would be China, due to the fact it has the size and scope to do serious collateral damage. Another interesting event to look out for in the mainland would be the change in its leadership.
“I’m going to continue to keep a close eye on the Shanghai stock market. I think that would be the most sensitive indicator of the policy changes in China and the new leadership,” he notes.
Although Wood has managed to secure a string of Brokers Poll awards from Asiamoney, the strategist stills has weaknesses. Woods admits that one of his challenges is to maintain a firm grasp on information. He strives to get up to speed with current events on a daily basis but points out that reading news is not enough.
“There’s a required need to travel just to see the clients to know what’s going on,” he adds. This is why he highlights that his weekends – if not spent at home – are, more often than not, spent up in the air en-route to meet his clients.