Hong Kong unit trusts struggle to better regional index gains
MOST Hong Kong authorised unit trusts investing in regional economies failed to out-perform their benchmark indexes, a review of performance by Micropal, the statistics company, reveals.
Fewer than half the funds investing in the Hang Seng Index - some with exposure to China stocks - failed to replicate its 20 per cent-plus gains.
An investor who placed US$1,000 in the top-performing fund, HSBC Hong Kong Equity, would have seen holdings grow to more than $1,312.
The top eight funds in the 19-strong sector produced returns of more than 20 per cent. The worst-performing fund, Dao Heng Hong Kong, lost $12, while Schroders Asia Hong Kong Smaller Companies struggled to do little more than break even.
The remaining bottom five all struggled to achieve less than half the index return.
The performance of funds covering Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, the Philippines and the sub-continent was dismal. Of these 34 funds, only three made a profit.