Jupiter chief sees chance in China

16 July 2010 8:00 am | By Chris Salih

Jupiter director of independent funds John Chatfeild-Roberts believes there will be a good opportunity to invest in China in the second half of this year.

He says in economic terms China is still a great prospect, despite attempts by the Chinese authorities to slow the market down.

Chatfeild-Roberts, who is also Jupiter’s chief investment officer, says while monetary policy in the developed world remains relaxed, in China it is much tighter as the authorities try to squeeze the speculators out of the system, which in turn is having an impact on the market and real economy.

“It will give an entry in the next couple of quarters because, in economic terms, China still offers great value. Timing is pretty important and if you can buy China cheaply it makes a huge overall impact to your long-term returns. You only have to look at when Warren Buffett made 10 times his return when he bought into PetroChina when everybody hated it.”

Buffett ended up making a £1.7bn profit on PetroChina, having bought 11 per cent of its public shares a year earlier.

Chatfeild-Roberts has also cooled his interest in the property sector despite showing a greater interest in the second half of last year. He says:

“What has actually happened is there are a number of property companies, or at least properties, that are still on bank balance sheets. They should not be, but rather than foreclosing they are still sitting there as the banks do not want to drive prices down. Very prime property yields have come right down and to my mind do not look attractive at all.

“I would say the returns from property will be lacklustre for as much as 10 years.”

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