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Small Caps: China’s Engine of Domestic Growth and Innovation

Small caps provide fast-growing opportunities to gain exposure to China’s domestic growth.

  • 12/07/2022

China is facing a range of challenges due to a combination of external geopolitical forces and internal forces of its own making. The world’s second-biggest economy accounts for about one-third of global growth, more than the combined share of the U.S., Europe, and Japan.1

But the country’s strict zero-COVID policy has put much of its economy on standstill most recently. Lockdowns have led to first and second quarter growth stalling, and we have already seen downward revisions to earnings. In the MSCI China Index, growth forecasts for this year have been reduced to around 5% at the end of June (and in some cases more) from a previous estimate of around 15% given the challenges faced so far this year.2

We believe growth will return when zero-COVID policy ends

Given that most of the severe COVID lockdowns happened in the earlier part of March, we are bracing for a rough second quarter.

But with the government’s strict COVID policy likely easing in the second half of the year and high commodity prices coming down a bit from their peak, we are optimistic that earnings will improve in the latter half of 2022.

We are cautious, however, because easing of zero-COVID will largely depend on China adopting a better vaccination strategy. Only 20% of its 30 million elderly population over the age of 80 had received a booster jab.3 For these reasons, we think reopening of the economy is likely to be a gradual process.

While growth in China is currently subdued, we believe it is poised to recover given the paucity of economic good news in the rest of the world with rising inflation and interest rates. China continues to be on a path of easing. Therefore, we believe the prospects of growth in China rerating over time are good.

Economic recovery needs to happen in conjunction with commodity prices falling slightly along with some kind of stimulus support. While many uncertainties remain, our view is the Chinese government has a healthy balance sheet, and still has monetary and fiscal levers it can pull to foster stable growth for the rest of this year.

Given that China’s economy was already quite healthy before the Omicron strain arrived a few months ago, we are broadly confident that COVID restrictions easing, coupled with potential post-COVID stimulus could lead to an improvement in sentiment and a boost to the economy.

Meanwhile, geopolitical headwinds such as global trade supply issues and Russia’s war with Ukraine continue to cause challenges.

Potentially unstoppable trends

Despite the uncertainties, there are unstoppable trends in China that are associated with income growth, technology, manufacturing, and energy self-sufficiency, as well as market share opportunities and gains in complex supply chains that have historically been dominated by foreign players.

Many of these trends, especially digitisation, automation, and self-sufficiency in technology and energy, are secular and poised to become potentially larger parts of China's economic activity over time. Our view remains that innovation will continue to accelerate in many areas of the economy, particularly in the IT, healthcare, automation, and renewable sectors in China. Investors could capture these potential growth opportunities by having exposure to the companies that are well positioned to participate in the country’s new economy and are driving China’s jobs, innovation and wealth.

Almost 88% of urban employment is now in small, privately owned, entrepreneurial companies.4 That is why we believe exposure to small caps enables investors to access the faster growing parts of the Chinese markets.

The country’s small-cap equity universe has expanded exponentially over the past decade to become one of the most sizeable, small company universes globally. China has over 5,000 local companies with a market cap of under US$5 billion.5 In our view, it also offers ample liquidity since around 80% of this universe trades on the domestic A-Shares market, which tends to be much more liquid than its Hong Kong peer.

The small cap universe has good representation of companies in growth-centric, new economy segments of the Chinese markets. We find that smaller companies thrive best in productivity- and value-enhancing industries such as automation, health care, e-commerce and education—areas which are under-represented in large-cap-oriented benchmarks and portfolios.

For example, in IT and healthcare, the small cap universe offers much higher exposure compared to the MSCI China Index, and there is also minimal overlap from a sector perspective, thus making these two categories of Chinese equities complementary to each other in our view.6

Find the best companies through an active approach

While China’s universe for small companies is wide, competition is high and there is minimal research coverage. Only the best-run, most innovative companies are likely to thrive and succeed. Therefore, we believe an active investment approach that conducts proprietary, fundamental research can help provide dedicated exposure to China’s most promising small companies.

We believe China’s small caps can complement a large-cap allocation to China’s equities. Indeed, many of our clients have used our China Small Companies Fund to differentiate and augment their China exposure whether they have a core China exposure or through a global or emerging markets exposure.

Furthermore, the domestic focus of small companies can potentially provide an element of protection against trade tensions and other geopolitical macro risks.

Positioning for when consumption rebounds

Looking forward, we are keeping a watchful eye on signs of improvement in consumption which would naturally benefit our portfolio. Some relief on China’s zero-COVID policy is expected to unleash more consumption activity, which is an important part of our portfolio given that close to 80% of the revenue stream derives from the domestic economy. Many of our investee companies are dependent on the wellbeing of the domestic economy and are heavily exposed to the impact of lockdowns.

At a time when earnings growth for small companies looks attractive and valuations are low, we believe this is an opportune period to get exposure to domestic China growth through a dedicated and actively managed investment strategy.

Winnie Chwang
Portfolio Manager
Matthews Asia

 

1 International Monetary Fund, October 15, 2021

2 Source: MSCI and Factset Research

3 CEIC, May 23, 2022

4 CEIC, as of October 27, 2021

5 Source: Data from Bloomberg as of March 31, 2022

6 Source: Data from Bloomberg as of March 31, 2022

Risk Considerations

The value of an investment in the Fund can go down as well as up and possible loss of principal is a risk of investing. Investments in international, emerging and frontier market securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation, which may adversely affect the value of the Fund's assets. Investing in Chinese securities involve risks. Heightened risks related to the regulatory environment and the potential actions by the Chinese government could negatively impact performance. The Fund invests in holdings denominated in foreign currency, and is exposed to the risk that the value of the foreign currency will increase or decrease. The Fund invests primarily in equity securities, which may result in increased volatility. Investments in a single-country fund may be subject to a higher degree of market risk than diversified funds because of concentration in a specific country. The Fund invests in smaller companies, which are more volatile and less liquid than larger companies. These and other risks associated with investing in the Fund can be found in the Prospectus.

Important Information

For Institutional/Professional Investors Only

The Fund is a sub-fund of Matthews Asia Funds SICAV, an umbrella fund, with segregated liability between sub-funds, established as an open-ended investment company with variable capital and incorporated with limited liability under the laws of Luxembourg.

Investment involves risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The value of an investment in the Fund can go down as well as up. This document is not a Prospectus/Offering Document and does not constitute an offer to the public. No public offering or advertising of investment services or securities is intended to have taken effect through the provision of these materials. This is not intended for distribution or use in any jurisdiction in which such distribution, publication, issue or use is not lawful. Investors should not invest in a Fund solely based on the information in this document. An investment in Matthews Asia Funds may be subject to risks, such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. Additionally, investing in emerging and frontier securities involves greater risks than investing in securities of developed markets, as issuers in these countries generally disclose less financial and other information publicly or restrict access to certain information from review by non-domestic authorities. Emerging and frontier markets tend to have less stringent and less uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, limited regulatory or governmental oversight, and limited investor protection or rights to take action against issuers, resulting in potential material risks to investors. Pandemics and other public health emergencies can result in market volatility and disruption. The current prospectus, Key Investor Information Document or other offering documents (“Offering Documents”) contain this and other information and can be obtained by visiting global.matthewsasia.com. Please read the Offering Documents carefully before investing as they explain the risks associated with investing in international and emerging markets. It is the responsibility of any persons wishing to subscribe for shares to inform themselves of and to observe all applicable laws and regulations of any relevant jurisdictions. Prospective investors should inform themselves as to the legal requirements and tax consequences within the countries of their citizenship, residence, domicile and place of business with respect to the acquisition, holding or disposal of shares, and any foreign exchange restrictions that may be relevant thereto. 

An investment in the Matthews Asia Funds is not available in all jurisdictions. The Fund’s shares may not be sold to citizens or residents of the United States or in any other state, country or jurisdiction where it would be unlawful to offer, solicit an offer for, or sell the shares. No securities commission or regulatory authority has in any way passed upon the merits of an investment in the Fund or the accuracy or adequacy of this information or the material contained herein or otherwise.

Matthews Asia is the brand for Matthews International Capital Management, LLC and its direct and indirect subsidiaries.

Matthews International Capital Management is the Investment Manager to the Matthews Asia Funds, and is a U.S.-based investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission who has not represented and will not represent that it is otherwise registered with any other regulator or regulatory body. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

The MSCI China Index is a free float–adjusted market capitalization–weighted index of Chinese equities that includes China-affiliated corporations and H shares listed on the Hong Kong Exchange, and B shares listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges.

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In the UK, this document is only made available to professional clients and eligible counterparties as defined by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”). Under no circumstances should this document be forwarded to anyone in the UK who is not a professional client or eligible counterparty as defined by the FCA. Issued in the UK by Matthews Global Investors (UK) Limited (“Matthews Asia (UK)”), which is authorised and regulated by the FCA, FRN 667893.

 

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The views and information discussed in this report are as of the date of publication, are subject to change and may not reflect current views. The views expressed represent an assessment of market conditions at a specific point in time, are opinions only and should not be relied upon as investment advice regarding a particular investment or markets in general. Such information does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell specific securities or investment vehicles. Investment involves risk. Investing in international and emerging markets may involve additional risks, such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. Investing in small- and mid-size companies is more risky and volatile than investing in large companies as they may be more volatile and less liquid than larger companies. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The information contained herein has been derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate at the time of compilation, but no representation or warranty (express or implied) is made as to the accuracy or completeness of any of this information. Matthews Asia and its affiliates do not accept any liability for losses either direct or consequential caused by the use of this information.

 

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