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Premia Insights
Our perspectives on trends & issues that are reshaping the industry and the investment community

featured insights & webinar

Premia Webinar: China opportunities through the lens of ESG AND common prosperity
webinarPremia Webinar: China opportunities through the lens of ESG AND common prosperity

The regulatory crackdowns in China across multiple sectors have unnerved many international investors. Is China still investible for international investors? How should we configure for China opportunities in the new normal? Are megatrends still relevant going forward? In this webinar, Kinger Lau, Chief China Equity Strategist at Goldman Sachs, Xin Li, Managing Editor of Caixin Global joined our Partner & Co-CIO David Lai to share more about the manifestation of ESG and common prosperity from investment perspectives, and sectors that would be under multi-year policy headwinds and tailwinds under the 14th Five Year Plans. Please message us if you would like to watch the replay, and for a similar session on Oct 26 with David. please register HERE.

Oct 13, 2021

Configuring for China opportunities – Premia STAR 50 ETF and China New Economy ETF as building blocks in the new normal?
insightConfiguring for China opportunities – Premia STAR 50 ETF and China New Economy ETF as building blocks in the new normal?

The recent regulatory crackdowns and power suspension in China have unnerved many international investors. How to configure for opportunities under the lens of common prosperity and China’s commitment for carbon neutrality by 2060? In this article, we compare the Premia China STAR50 ETF (3151.HK) and Premia CSI Caixin China New Economy ETF (3173.HK), and discuss why they are useful implementation tools to capture long term opportunities in hardcore technology and strategic new economy sectors under the 14th Five Year Plan.

Oct 12, 2021

The Great Transition
insightThe Great Transition

The US Federal Reserve has signalled the imminent start of the transition from the Great Stimulus of 2020-2021 to a period with new uncertainties. The Fed’s suggested pace of tapering quantitative easing was at the high end of expectations. In this article our Senior Advisor Say Boon Lim discusses his thoughts on what to expect regarding US inflation rate and 10Y UST yield, and why we need to brace for more challenging US equity and bond markets with lower return and higher risk coming up on the horizon.

Oct 05, 2021

US equities – the challenge of scaling the “triple peaks”
insightUS equities – the challenge of scaling the “triple peaks”

The upward momentum of US equities has slowed considerably over the past 16 months, from the explosive initial rebound in late March last year. Our sense is that we would either see small gains in coming months or indeed a correction in the face of the likely peaks in economic growth, earnings growth, and policy stimulus. In this article our Senior Advisor Say Boon Lim discusses why investors in US equities may have to lower their returns expectations for 2H21 in the face of what some are calling the “triple peaks”.

Aug 18, 2021

The stars are aligned – position for policy tailwinds with Premia China STAR50 ETF
insightThe stars are aligned – position for policy tailwinds with Premia China STAR50 ETF

China market saw a material correction due to the regulatory crackdown in the offshore tech and education space. The panic sentiment led to indiscriminative unwinding of Chinese stocks by foreign investors, pushing the HK-listed tech names and the US-listed China ADRs into a bear market technically. Although the regulatory risks remain high in near-term, investors seem getting a stronger hint about the policy direction. The glory days when China tech can be simplistically covered by just the offshore tech giants is gone, and there is increasing need for more granular understanding of the related policy headwinds and tailwinds. In this article our Partner & Co-CIO David Lai shares the thesis behind our Premia China STAR50 ETF, and how this timely launch adds value through its diversified exposure of the leading innovative and strategically important hi-tech companies focusing on innovation and hardcore technology.

Aug 05, 2021

Premia Webinar: STAR 50 and emerging innovation leaders from China
webinarPremia Webinar: STAR 50 and emerging innovation leaders from China

Due to popular demand, we have recorded again the STAR50 webinar for those of you who missed it last week or would like a recap of the discussion. In the webinar we shared about the genesis and strategic focus of the STAR Board, the index methodology and key features of the STAR 50 index, and also some interesting examples of emerging innovation leaders across including semiconductors, cloud, AI, 5G, biotech and also new materials and new energy. With its lower correlation with mainstream CSI300, China ADRs as well as very low correlation with S&P500 and Nasdaq, we hope it would be a good tool to serve your diversification need as you reconfigure your China/ EM construct for the new normal. [WATCH NOW]

Aug 04, 2021

Mr. Market Getting Grumpy
insightMr. Market Getting Grumpy

Recently we wrote about how investors can navigate “Mr. Market’s manic-depressive mood swings”, cautioning that those swings are likely to get shorter and more frequent. Indeed, Mr. Market may already be getting grumpy again. And it is not quite because things are going badly. It will more likely be because he has gotten ahead of himself in terms of expectations. In this article our Senior Advisor Say Boon Lim shared his thoughts on why a correction is due and it’s important to watch the divergences - as the high growth with low inflation narrative is wearing thin and the US economy may be losing its ability to surprise on the upside.

Jul 22, 2021

Navigating Mr. Market’s Mood Swings
insightNavigating Mr. Market’s Mood Swings

Navigating Mr. Market’s Mood Swings Warren Buffett – channeling his teacher Benjamin Graham – famously said: “Mr. Market is kind of a drunken psycho. Some days he gets very enthused, some days he gets very depressed.” In recent times, the market has looked a lot more like the “drunken psycho” of Warren Buffett’s characterisation than usual. In this article our Senior Advisor Say Boon Lim shares his thoughts on how we would navigate through the market swings under signals from rate movements and expectations, economic recovery, covid control and vaccination roll outs, and in the process, the divide between the “vaxed” and the “vaxed-nots”.

Jul 15, 2021

Updates on the annual rebalancing for the Premia China Bedrock, New Economy, and Asia Innovative Technology strategies
insightUpdates on the annual rebalancing for the Premia China Bedrock, New Economy, and Asia Innovative Technology strategies

We recently completed the annual rebalancing exercise for the two China A shares and Asia Innovative Technology ETFs. In this article our Portfolio Manager Alex and Partner & Co-CIO David will share more about the changes and portfolio characteristics post-rebalancing, which further align with strategic focuses of China’s 14th Five Year Plan, and recalibrate for opportunities in the new normal as COVID recovery in China and Asia enters the next stage.

Jun 24, 2021

Foreign buying of Chinese bonds is up again – and here’s why
insightForeign buying of Chinese bonds is up again – and here’s why

Amidst the high risk of holding Developed Market government bonds and credits in an environment of rising inflation and historically low spreads, a frequent lament among institutions and large family offices is “but our mandate requires us to hold bonds.”

Jun 17, 2021

Chart Of the Week

Asia Credit - More Room for Carry - 14 Oct, 2026
  • Michael Ng

    Michael Ng

Year-to-date Premia J.P. Morgan Asia Credit Investment Grade USD Bond ETF (Premia Asia IG ETF) has outperformed longer duration peers. Even as US Treasuries yield widened to their highest yields in over two decades, the Asia IG ETF has proven relatively resilient. Across assets classes, some investors now see US Treasuries as better value than US equities and started rotating from US risk asset to duration – yet Asia IG still offers a yield pickup over US Treasury - making it even more attractive. Asian credit spreads widened modestly in recent weeks on concern about Indonesia and Philippines, and have begun to retrace as those worries ease. In our view, the current spread level offers a better window to add to Asia investment grade (IG) credit. Indonesia has been viewed as the region's main fiscal pressure point, with concerns over state spending and the credibility of the 3% of GDP deficit cap weighing on Asian spreads more broadly. The government has since begun to rein in expenditure. While the announced measures look modest, but markets read them as a sign of discipline : Indonesia's 5-year CDS has eased from a recent high of ~96bps to ~91bps as of 12 October, pointing to stabilisation. Meanwhile, despite the near-term pull back in the US 10-year yield, large US deficits point to heavier issuance, so holding long duration outright carries meaningful risk. Shorter-duration IG credit offers a better balance. The Premia J.P. Morgan Asia Credit Investment Grade USD Bond ETF (3411/9411 HK) offers a ~4.3-year duration and a ~5.5% average yield to maturity, with an average A rating and around 10% in floating-rate notes. That lets investors earn carry and stay invested with moderate rate exposure. In a market still arguing over where yields settle, The Premia Asia IG ETF offers a way to be paid while the debate plays out — a better balance between rate bets and carry, and a more sensible place to “keep calm and carry on”.

Oct 14, 2026

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