Best Bet Amid China Slowdown Is Chinese Debt, Western Asset Says
- Fund-management firm has been adding to Chinese bond holdings
- Sees IMF SDR inclusion ushering in new era of inflows
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For Western Asset Management, the best place to take shelter from China’s economic slowdown is in the eye of the storm.
The fund manager has been raising the proportion of China-related holdings in its developing-nation portfolios, said Chia Liang Lian, co-head of emerging-market debt in Pasadena, California. Western Asset has recently bought the debt of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Co. and favors notes sold by high-quality real-estate developers on bets the worst of the property cycle is over, he said. The firm oversees $446 billion of assets, including $38.5 billion in emerging markets.