China position 2021: Sustaining institutional interest is an Economist Impact report, sponsored by Invesco. The report is a followup to 2019’s China position study. For the 2021 research, a survey was conducted of 200 asset owners (pension and sovereign funds, endowments, banks, insurance firms, etc) to better understand the sentiment these large—often market making—funds have in terms of investment stance toward the Chinese market.
The research is designed to go beyond media headlines to address the actual strategy and exposure levels of the world’s largest institutional investors. Geographic range in this year’s survey, which was conducted over June and July 2021, had 25% each from Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East and North America. Respondent seniority ranged from group director to CEO or firm owner, with about 50% at the C-suite level, while another 50% had personal investment decision making power. Assets under management at surveyed organisations spanned from US$500 million to greater than US$100 billion.
The survey showed that 86% of respondents say their investments in China have either grown or stayed the same over the past 12 months, with 64% expecting further increases in the next 12 months; only 12% expected a reduction. Despite headlines of tech and trade tensions or decoupling pressures, the world’s most significant class of investors remain considerably invested in China. This report explores why.
